NEWCREST Mining has offloaded its 22.2% stake in the large Boddington copper-gold mine in Western Australia to Newmont Mining for $A225 million.
Boddington gold mine, located south of Perth in Western Australia.
The acquisition will boost Newmont's stake in the project to 66.6% with AngloGold holding 33.3%.
Newcrest said the proceeds of the sale would be used to retire debt, with around $A215 million expected after taking into account the book value of the investment, including the reversal of environmental provisions, transaction costs and tax.
Located southeast of Perth, Boddington is one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in the world with reserves of 390 million tonnes grading 0.87 grams per tonne gold and 0.12% copper.
Mining will be via an open pit operation with the 17-year project scheduled to come online by mid-2008. Shares in Newcrest shed 27c (1.1%) during morning trade to $25.11, while Newmont's Australian stock shed 19c (2.5%) to $7.44.
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