AngloGold Ashanti controversies
Controversies tied to this brand in public sources. A listing is not a finding of fault.
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2025
Deaths during Obuasi security confrontation
A Ghanaian small-scale miners’ association alleged that soldiers killed nine unarmed people and seriously injured 14 others at an AngloGold Ashanti mine in Obuasi. The Ghanaian army gave a conflicting account, stating that illegal miners armed with locally manufactured rifles breached the mine’s security fence and fired at a military patrol. The incident was reported but the competing descriptions were not reconciled in the supplied material.
2011
Public Eye Global Award
The company received the Public Eye Global Award after campaigners cited alleged human-rights violations and environmental impacts. The award represented advocacy-group criticism rather than a judicial finding.
2008
Human-rights and environmental criticism
War on Want and other advocacy organizations criticized Anglo American and AngloGold Ashanti over alleged abuses and environmental problems associated with extractive operations in developing countries. AngloGold Ashanti issued responses to some human-rights allegations.
2005
Payment to an armed group in Ituri
Reports stated that members of an AngloGold Ashanti exploration team in Ituri made an approximately US$8,000 payment to the FNI, an organization accused of serious human-rights abuses. The episode became part of wider criticism of mining-company relationships with armed actors in conflict-affected areas.
Colombian human-rights and environmental allegations
Colombia’s Truth Commission was reported as attributing responsibility to AngloGold Ashanti for financing paramilitary groups implicated in killings of peasants and community leaders. The company has also faced allegations concerning damage to water sources and forced displacement in the Cauca region. The claims require careful distinction between reported findings, allegations and adjudicated facts.