off-the-wire

Lundin Mining buys majority stake in Chile's Caserones mine for $950 mln

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
March 27 (Reuters) - Lundin Mining Corp on Monday said it would buy a majority stake in Chile's Caserones copper mine for about $950 million to expand the Canadian miner's exposure to the red metal crucial for the green energy transition. Lundin Mining signed an agreement with Japan's JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corp to acquire a 51% stake in Lumina Copper, which operates the Caserones copper-molybdenum mine in Chile. Under the deal, Lundin Mining would make an upfront cash payment of $800 million and $150 million in installments over six years, Lundin Mining said in a statement.


The deal also allows Lundin the right to purchase an additional interest of up to 19% in the Caserones mine for $350 million over five years, the company added.


Copper helps reduce carbon emissions and lowers the energy required to produce electricity.


"The initial controlling interest increases our exposure to what we believe is a growing top-tier copper mining district. We retain the option to further increase our ownership over the next few years at an attractive price," Peter Rockandel, chief executive of Lundin Mining, said.


The stake sale is part of an asset portfolio review at JX Nippon, the Japanese company said in a statement to Reuters, adding that it is looking to focus on the advanced materials business while controlling volatility in its resource business.


Lundin last month reported quarterly adjusted earnings of 25 cents?? per share far exceeding the analysts' expectations of 11 cents per share. (Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Yuka Obayashi and Akriti Sharma; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil)

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