BHP warns Australian mining not ready for low-cost competitors
The boom in demand from China’s industrialization is now “past the period of aggressive growth,” BHP’s Australia President said.
The months-long saga over the future of Lundin Mining took another interesting twist on Friday, when a consortium of Chinese companies jumped in with a potential bid, according to a story in The Globe and Mail. Lundin has been the target of two takeover bids, the first by Inmet Mining, which recently fell through, and the second by Equinox Minerals, which unveiled a $4.8 billion hostile takeover bid to counter the Inmet offer. That deal was derailed when China’s Minmetals Resources tried to acquire Equinox, which has since been acquired by Barrick Gold, which presented a richer offer worth $7.3 billion.
Says the Globe:
According to people familiar with the discussions, the buying group is headed by one of China’s largest base metal miners, Jinchuan Group Ltd., and includes the country’s giant sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corp. (CIC) Jinchuan is China’s biggest producer of nickel and cobalt and owns a variety of mineral properties in mining frontiers such as Africa and Kazakhstan.
Speculation about a potential takeover drove Lundin’s stock price up 82 cents to $9.16 in heavy trading shortly after the market opened Friday. More than eight million shares changed hands in the first hour of trading.
