SANTIAGO: A UK-based investment fund is about to close a deal with mining giant Anglo American that will see the financial institution acquiring two of the miner’s copper assets up for sale in Chile.
According to local Spanish newspaper, the targeted mines are Mantoverde and Mantos Blancos, and the deal is expected to fetch between $500 million and $1 billion.
The paper added that Anglo is also fine-tuning details to unload El Soldado mine and the Chagres smelter, but added the sale process is progressing at a slower rate than its northern operations because the company needs to negotiate off-take terms with partners Mitsui & Co., Mitsubishi Corp. and Codelco.
The London-based company has been looking to divest assets in Chile for months, as it aims to focus instead on expansions at its larger “world-class” operations —Collahuasi and Los Bronces—, as well as its Quellaveco copper project in Peru.
London-based investment group QKR Corp, set up by former J.P. Morgan banker Lloyd Pengilly, expressed interest in Mantoverde and Mantos Blancos earlier this year.
The miner is also disposing businesses that have pulled its average down, including four platinum mines and some coal assets in South Africa, as well as coal interests in Australia.
