Glencore selling CSA?

Glencore weighs up second try at Cobar copper mine sale

• BRIDGET CARTER
  MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS EDITOR
  @BridgetCarterb
  
• 12:00AM MARCH 6, 2019
• NO COMMENTS

Glencore is believed to be weighing up a second attempt at selling its Cobar copper mine in NSW, according to sources.
It is a sale that could reap the Switzerland-based commodity trading and mining giant several hundred million dollars.
While Glencore declined to comment on the move, sources say that a divestment could be on the cards. The asset, known as the CSA Mine, is an underground copper mine employing more than 300 people. After being closed in 1997, it was reopened by Glencore in 1999.
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Since 1965, the mine has extracted substantial quantities of zinc, lead, silver and copper, but today the CSA Mine has a focus on mining copper, with a silver co-product.
CSA produces more than 1.1 million tonnes of copper ore and in excess of 185,000 tonnes of copper concentrate a year that is exported to smelters in India, China and Southeast Asia.
Copper is now trading at about $US6502 a tonne after rallying from a December commodity sell-off. These trading prices are similar to July last year, so a sale right now could be timely.
The sales talk comes after the mining giant tried to sell CSA Mine about two years ago to drive down debt, but the spike in commodity prices prompted the group to retain the asset.
At that time, it was also planning to offload its Lomas Bayas copper mine in Chile, but that asset was also retained.
Meanwhile, should BHP ever opt to sell its $US3 billion ($4.2bn) Mount Arthur coal mine in NSW, Glencore would normally be seen as one of the most likely buyers. However, it appeared last month that the global commodities giant could be abandoning the pursuit of large coal acquisitions to address climate change concerns, following institutional investor pressure.
Elsewhere in the sector, it has emerged that Woodside Petroleum took pitches last week from investment banks to sell down its stake in the Scarborough gas field.
An appointment is thought to have been imminent and US banks JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are thought to stand the best chance of winning the mandate.