Barely a week after Anglo American announced that the $2.8 billion they splashed on expanding their flagship Los Bronces mine will start to bear fruit before year end, Chile’s state-owned Codelco decides to exercise an option to acquire half of it.
Codelco has passed on neighbouring Los Bronces, a smelter and a second mine before, but Chile’s finance minister on Friday warned Anglo that it must honour the deal that dates back to 1978. Codelco has put together $6 billion but analyst say that short changes Anglo by billions. What must really gall Anglo, which seems to have been taken by surprise, is that they will have to pay around $1 billion in taxes on the transaction.
Martin Creamer, publisher of Mining Weekly describes events this way in a radio interview: “It is a forced sale on a private sector company that has invested well in Chile. This Los Bronces mine is neighboured by the State-owned Codelco, so they are obviously looking over the fence seeing how well this is developing and they are going to get that for nothing, because that has cost something like $3-billion to develop.”
Dow Jones explains some of the history: The option was previously held by smaller state mining company, Empresa Nacional de la Minera, or Enami, which sold it to Codelco for $175 million. Anglo acquired the Sur complex in 2002 from then-owner Exxon Mobil which had bought Sur from Enami in 1978, and the transaction included the option.
Reuters quotes Chile Finance Minister Felipe Larrain at a news conference with Codelco CEO Diego Hernandez: “Anglo American has a duty not to resort to any act or omission that would put Codelco’s right at risk.”
Last week Anglo’s quarterly results showed a 9% dip in copper output to 139,000 tonnes, but the company said full year production would be above that of last year thanks to the Los Bronces expansion. Copper accounts for roughly a third of Anglo’s profits. Anglo ADR’s were down 1.8% in New York by early afternoon Friday.
Comments
Mviera
Codelco’s option to acquire 49% of Anglo-America is legitimate, and this contract, I think both companies make if they join, Andina has 19,000 million ton Cu resource, and the Bronces have at least 15,000 million copper resources, both make the world’s largest oilfield, a planetary anomaly adds market value