[miningmx.com] – SOUTH32 was interested in buying assets in either copper or so-called second or third generation minerals with speciality applications such as lithium or graphite, said Reuters citing Graham Kerr, CEO of the Sydney- and Johannesburg-listed mining group.
“Copper is obviously attractive given the supply demand fundamentals,” said Kerr who had earlier on Thursday announced a $1.7bn half-year loss owing to writedowns of its manganese and coal assets.
“Lithium and graphite have attractions but they can be quite unique in terms of they are the flavour of the month,” said Kerr.
“We will look across the whole commodity spectrum, but more toward the second and third generation of commodities,” said Kerr.
Kerr said earlier this month that he would be interested in buying the shares it didn’t already own in South African manganese producer, Samancor, from Anglo American, its joint venture partner.
“We operate the joint venture and market 100% of the product, so we obviously know the business well,” Kerr said.
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