Ann: Becoming a substantial holder from MQG, page-5

The $1bn listed miner SandfireResources is believed to be lining up to buy the Golden Grove mine owned byOwen Hegarty’s private equity firm EMR Capital, with first round bids due thisweek.

The mine is up for sale throughinvestment bank Macquarie Capital after it was earlier earmarked for an initialpublic offering as part of a wider portfolio.

Golden Grove, 450km northeast ofPerth, produces copper, lead, zinc, silver and gold.

It was bought by EMR Capital in 2017for $US210m from MMG.

Sandfire typically counts Citi as itsadviser and is thought to have the financial firepower to embark on such atransaction.
It is known for some time to be keento embark on acquisitions to boost future earnings.

EMR Capital is chaired by Mr Hegarty,the former founder and managing director of the once listed mining companyOxiana.

Silver Lake has been tipped asanother potential buyer, while OZ Minerals, which was formed through the mergerof Oxiana and Zinifex, may bid for the asset after it was earlier an owner.

Mt Gibson Iron also has a lot of cashand it could also be in the mix.

Other possible buyers include MincorResources or Western Areas, while trading houses such as Sumitomo and Mitsuihave shown some early interest.EMR Capital owns the Kestrelmetallurgical coal mine in Queensland, which it purchased with Adaro Energy in2018 for $US2.25bn.

In 2018, it also considered anacquisition of the Cerro Colorado copper mine in Chile, but did not proceedwith the transaction.

In Australia, EMR also owns theRavenswood gold mine in northeast Queensland and has an interest in theCapricorn copper mine in Northwest Queensland.

Some suspect they will also come onto the market shortly.

Sandfire Resources has projects inAustralia and globally, including the US and Africa, with commodities includingcopper, gold and silver.

In Australia its assets include itsDeGrussa operation, 900km northeast of Perth, which mines copper and gold.

For the year to June, the company made a $74.1m net profit