Codelco and Enami declined to remark.
The sale would assist scale back Enami’s debt after years of losses from processing mineral for small miners in Chile, whereas minimizing the quantity of recent capital wanted from public funds.
For Codelco, the stake would assist prop up the behemoth’s output, which final yr sank to the bottom in 1 / 4 century. Which may be sufficient to forestall BHP Group from overtaking Codelco because the world’s greatest copper firm.
Nonetheless, approval for the acquisition must navigate opposition from mining society Sonami, which has a seat on the 10-person board at Enami. Sonami has stated any sale needs to be performed by means of an open and aggressive course of.
(By James Attwood)