China Moly buys 95% of DRC copper-cobalt mine from Freeport for $550 mln

PKSHA Technology

13/12/2020 10:34

Dec 13 (Reuters) - China Molybdenum Co  603993.SS   3993.HK 
said on Sunday it had acquired a 95% stake in the Kisanfu
copper-cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
from U.S.-based Freeport-McMoRan Inc  FCX.N  for $550 million.
    The Chinese company's takeover of the undeveloped Kisanfu
project - discussed as early as 2016 - boosts its reserves in
the DRC, the world's top producer of battery metal cobalt, where
China Moly already operates the giant Tenke Fungurume mine.
    The acquisition, by China Moly unit Natural Resource Elite
Investment Ltd, was approved by the Luoyang-based company's
investment committee on Dec. 1 and was completed on Friday U.S.
time, a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange said. 
    Kisanfu, which is around 33 km (20.5 miles) southwest of
Tenke Fungurume, holds an estimated 6.28 million tonnes of
copper and 3.1 million tonnes of cobalt metal, said the filing,
which mentioned synergies with China Moly's other business in
the DRC. 
    The DRC government holds the other 5% in the mine.  
    China Moly acquired a 56% stake in Tenke Fungurume in 2016
from Freeport, which was looking to cut debt, and at the same
time entered negotiations to buy the U.S. miner's stake in
Kisanfu before talks ended the following year. [https://tinyurl.com/yy22hbcb
]
    China Moly raised its stake in Tenke Fungurume to 80% in
2019.

 (Reporting by Tom Daly; editing by Barbara Lewis)
 ((tom.daly@thomsonreuters.com; +86 10 5669 2119;))