Iron ore rises on pre-holiday restocking, China stimulus hopes
"Winter restocking of iron ore among steel mills is still underway, so we believe ore prices will find some support in the near term," analyst says.
Australian iron ore miner Mineral Resources said on Monday it pocketed A$328 million ($244.39 million) from the sale of its 5.4% stake in lithium miner Pilbara Minerals and plans to reinvest the windfall into its own projects.
Lithium miners, like Pilbara, have surged in value as investors look to companies supplying minerals used in electric vehicle batteries in the global push to lower carbon emissions.
Pilbara shares are up around 160% so far this year, adding to a more than 200% rise in 2020.
Mineral Resources picked up the stake in 2016 as part of an agreement with Pilbara that saw the lithium miner issue A$50 million worth of shares so that it would give up its offtake and royalty rights in the Pilgangoora project.
The offloaded stake was offered to institutional investors in a block trade, Mineral Resources said.
The company, which also has two hard rock lithium mines in Western Australia, said “it is time” to redirect its investment it its own lithium and iron ore projects.
($1 = 1.3421 Australian dollars)
(By Arundhati Dutta and Nikhil Kurian Nainan; Editing by Uttaresh.V)
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