Mining’s old guard needs strong medicine
A new report details subpar investor returns in the mining industry over the last decade, particularly big cap diversified companies which have not adapted to new realities.
China-based Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. Ltd. (NYSE:YZC) is likely to list its Canada potash assets in the Toronto Stock Exchange, company chairman Li Weimin told The Wall Street Journal.
The company bought 19 potash mineral exploration permits in Canada’s Saskatchewan province for $260 million in 2011 and, according to Yanzhou, they could hold 39.7 billion tons of the key fertilizer ingredient.
The report adds the Chinese miner is also planning to boost investment at its Australian coal mines in order to ramp up production of the commodity.
For analysts contacted by MINING.com, the possible move is nothing but another example of how deeply vested China is in Canada. They predict there is much more to come.
Guy Saint-Jacques, the Canadian Ambassador to China, shares those opinions. He recently highlighted Chinese investment in Canadian energy production is outpacing mining investments threefold.
In a note to investors Tuesday, Moody said Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. Ltd.’s 2012 results were quite modest, but in line with expectations. The rating agency added its outlook for the company remains negative.
“The deterioration in Yanzhou Coal’s operational results in 2012 reflected a challenging operating environment for the coal mining industry, as well as the cost pressures facing the company’s newly integrated Australian operations,” said Alan Gao, a Moody’s vice president and senior analyst.
Yanzhou Coal, China’s third-largest listed coal miner by output, has operating mines in China and Australia. In June 2012, its subsidiary Yancoal Australia completed the acquisition of Gloucester Coal and listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
The miner listed in Shanghai, Hong Kong and New York in 1998. It is 53%-owned by the Yankuang Group, a state-owned enterprise wholly owned by the Shandong Provincial State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and is one of the top coal mining groups in China.
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