Gilbertson looks at manganesePERTH's Consolidated Minerals is...

Gilbertson looks at manganese
PERTH's Consolidated Minerals is believed to be already casting an eye over assets which have been linked previously to former BHP Billiton chief executive Brian Gilbertson and his close business associates.

Mr Gilbertson last month announced his return to the Australian market through a partial private equity tilt at ConsMin aiming to transform it into a diversified miner on the scale of Oxiana, or even Xstrata, through a series of acquisitions.

Former ConsMin managing director Michael Kiernan, who left the company last year, told the Herald some of his former employees had informed him Mr Gilbertson was very keen on expanding the miner's manganese business.

Mr Gilbertson and his business associates such as London investment banker Roddie Fleming and Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg have made several moves in the South African manganese sector in the last few years.

Through his holding company Renova, Mr Vekselberg, the chairman of Russian aluminium producer Sual, obtained 49 per cent of the Kalahari manganese project. Mr Fleming originally held part of that stake but is believed to have sold out. The majority is owned by a black economic empowerment partner.

The Kalahari project is in the same region as Samancor Manganese, which is 60 per cent owned by BHP Billiton and 40 per cent by Anglo American. BHP picked up the project through its merger with Billiton, which was headed by Mr Gilbertson. Mr Vekselberg reportedly attempted to buy Anglo's stake in Samancor in 2005 but was knocked back.

Mr Gilbertson last month told Australian media Mr Vekselberg "might" be an investor in ConsMin via his private equity group and added he held an interest in manganese assets in South Africa.

And Mr Kiernan noted Mr Gilbertson and the proposed new ConsMin strategy head, Arne Frandsen, had a history of involvement with black economic empowerment companies which made a deal with one another possible.

Mr Kiernan added Mr Gilbertson might look at alloy and smelting businesses to make the company a fully integrated supplier and more effective competitor against its larger manganese rivals. Other options included expanding ConsMin's WA nickel business through the purchase of Independence Group, Mincor or Sally Malay. "Brian is a great consolidator," Mr Kiernan said.

Some other assets which have previously been linked to Mr Gilbertson have recently resurfaced. Mr Fleming, the nephew of deceased James Bond author Ian Fleming and the head of UK investment bank Fleming Family and Partners, is looking to float his family's Mozambique tantulum assets in London. The same assets were supposed to be folded into Sual in 2003 but the deal fell over.

However, John Meyer, an analyst with Numis Securities in London, said: "The Flemings are always looking to sell overvalued assets into the market."