AngloGold Ashanti restarted its second gold processing plant in Brazil on August 25, restoring full domestic processing capacity for all concentrate from its local mines.

The reactivation of the second plant at the Queiroz industrial complex, located in Nova Lima in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, required 105 million reais in investment.

The complex now has total processing capacity of 280,000 tonnes of gold concentrate per year.

Luis Lima, AngloGold's head for Latin America, said the restart eliminates the need to export concentrate from Brazilian operations.

"With the reactivation of the second plant at the Queiroz industrial complex, we have returned to 100% of our installed capacity of 280,000 tonnes a year," Lima told Reuters on the sidelines of a mining event in Belo Horizonte. "This means we will be able to process all the gold concentrate from our Brazilian mines internally, without the need to export part of it."

AngloGold had been selling a portion of the concentrate from its Brazilian mines on the open market while only one of the two plants was operational. The company's first plant at the Queiroz complex was restarted in 2024.

Both plants were shut down in 2022 for adjustments related to liquid waste and effluent treatment, as well as reinforcement and readjustment of tailings dams. Lima cited vertical integration as the main driver for reactivation.

The Queiroz complex also produces sulfuric acid as a commercial by-product, capturing sulfur dioxide during gold processing. The facility has annual output capacity of approximately 240,000 tonnes, sold to industrial sectors including fertiliser production, pulp and paper, steel manufacturing, mining and water treatment.

"We now have full control of the entire production chain, from mining to the final product," Lima stated.