GLENCORE has closed the sale and purchase of its 100% stake in Ernest Henry Mining, a copper gold mine in Queensland, Australia.
The Swiss-headquartered group received A$800m for the sale and will receive a further A$200m in 12 months’ time.
The buyer, Evolution Mining, will assume all rehabilitation obligations and liabilities which will replace Glencore’s rehabilitation bonds.
However, Glencore has an agreement to buy 100% of the copper concentrate produced at Ernest Henry, it said.
The sale of the mine is part of Glencore’s strategy to streamline the business.
Gary Nagle, CEO of Glencore, said in December that the company had identified 10 assets it was looking to sell and had put a further 15 under review.
“We have certain assets in our business that are sub-scale,” said Nagle. “As we’ve grown and developed longer life, tier-one assets, some assets are not fit for purpose.”
Glencore’s aim was to ensure “… management time is focused on the right assets in the right jurisdictions in the right commodities,” said Nagle. “Those are the ones we’re looking to move out of the portfolio.”
In addition to Ernest Henry copper mine, Glencore has also divested of its stake in Mopani Copper Mines in Zambia, Chad oilfields, the Karadeniz LPG terminal, zinc assets in Bolivia and the Enyo oil downstream business.
However, there were no plans to sell its coal assets which the group would continue to run down in terms of its decarbonisation plans.
