JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – In a bid to streamline its business, JSE-listed AngloGold Ashanti on Tuesday announced several changes to its executive leadership team, including the appointment of Richard Duffy as CFO and Ron Largent as joint COO, alongside current COO Mike O’Hare.

Duffy would transition from his current position as executive VP of Continental Africa into the CFO role previously occupied by newly appointed CEO Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan (Venkat), from June 1.

Largent, who was previously executive VP of the America region would, as joint COO, continue to lead the strategy aimed at removing $500-million from the miner’s operating cost base within an 18-month period.

The world’s third-largest gold producer said in a statement that the reshuffle was a central part of its transition to a streamlined executive committee structure, which would see the CEO leading a team of nine members, as opposed to 12.

The changes would bring the company’s operations under joint COOs, offering Venkat strong technical support in his focus on key business imperatives.

He believed the streamlined structure played to each individual’s strengths, and better aligned the members’ collective work.

“The leadership team has worked hard to deliver a number of successes through challenging times and has reaffirmed its commitment to drive value creation in the business,” Venkat commented.

Further, Anthony O’Neill, who acted as joint interim CEO with Venkat following the departure of former CEO Mark Cutifani, would remain on the company’s board as an executive director and would revert to his role as executive VP of business and technical development.

All leadership changes would be completed by the third quarter.

“Management will continue to act aggressively on its strategy to maximise sustainable free cash flow from a high-quality portfolio, while maintaining the integrity of the business, which is especially important in these difficult times,” Venkat added.