In a bid to restructure and cut costs, Angle American, the country's core mining group, has axed 2,700 manager positions and stripped down its management structure, an act which might help the company save as much as $120 Million (72 Million) annually.

The decision came a week post a failed merger attempts with the rival Xstrata. Anglo American was then criticized by Xstrata, and others over time, for keeping an unnecessarily heavy top- management structure. Two divisional chiefs, Ian Cockerill and Philip Baum, heading the Coal and Iron divisions respectively, have been affected by the cut down decision.

ING Analyst Nick Hatch was quoted as saying that the changes in the management structure, "can be seen as a line of defense against any future move from Xstrata". Whether this is true or not remains to be discovered.

The new step, however, might just be the right thing to do as the company is already seeing positive developments. In its third-quarter report, Anglo revealed a 17% increase in its Iron Ore production, and a 13% rise in Copper production, both being one of the firm's top productions.