Photo by: Bloomberg
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Diversified major Glencore has announced plans to offload its wholly-owned Cobar copper mine, in Australia, and Lomas Bayas copper mine in Chile, following the receipt of a number of unsolicited expressions of interest for these mines from various potential buyers, it said on Monday.
The news came days after the group revealed plans to cut back on its production of zinc across its portfolio in Australia, South America and Kazakhstan, saying a 500 000 t/y output reduction would preserve the value of its reserves in the ground at a time of low zinc and lead prices.
The Cobar underground copper mine and a concentrate plant, in central western New South Wales, produced about 50 000 t/y of copper-in-concentrate.
The low-cost Lomas Bayas openpit copper mine, located 120 km northeast of the port of Antofagasta, Chile, delivered around 75 000 t/y of copper cathode.