Formerly called “The Disputed One,” Anglo American’s Los Bronces mine located northeast of Santiago, Chile, is living up to its name. The operation, which is expected to become the world’s fifth-biggest copper mine, is at the heart of the ongoing dispute between the London-based global miner and Chile’s Codelco, the world’s largest copper producer.
Representatives of both companies faced each other in court yesterday for the first time since Anglo sold a 24.5 percent stake in its Chilean properties to Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. for $5.39 billion, undermining plans by Codelco to exercise an option to buy half of it.
Codelco claims it is exercising an option it has held since 1998 to buy 49 percent of Anglo American Sur (AAS) for US$6,75bn from Anglo American. AAS includes the newly expanded $2.8 billion Los Bronces and El Soldado copper mines, as well as the Chagres smelter.
Codelco’s lawyer, Pedro Pablo Gutierrez, told a panel of three judges that the state mining company wants to prevent Anglo American from selling any further Sur stake.
Anglo American’s representatives, in turn, claimed that the state-owned company has used its influence in the Government, threatening Anglo’s operations in Chile.
The most recent legal action taken by Codelco aims to reverse Anglo American’s sale to Mitsubishi Corp. If Chile’s courts do nullify the sale, then Codelco would be able to purchase the full 49 percent the original option granted.
Local newspaper La Tercera reported that the copper producer intends to exercise the option sometime before Jan. 10, when company president, Diego Hernández, returns from vacation.
Anglo American would then have 10 days to react. Analysts predict that the British miner will dispute the 49 percent sale and create a legal battle that could last between three and four years, according to La Tercera.
