Deliberations are at an early stage and there’s no certainty Lundin will proceed with a sale, the folks stated.
The European mines, that are Lundin’s oldest belongings, generated about 19% of its income final 12 months. Zinkgruvan, an underground mine southwest of Stockholm that has operated constantly since 1857, churned out 76,349 tons of zinc final 12 months, in accordance with the corporate. Neves-Corvo produced 108,812 tons of zinc in addition to 33,823 tons of copper.
The agency is in the meantime urgent forward on tasks in South America. Its Josemaria venture in Argentina, an unlimited copper and gold deposit within the Andes, will price about $5 billion to construct right into a mine, in accordance with Royal Financial institution of Canada. On Tuesday, it elevated its stake in certainly one of its Chilean copper mines, Caserones, from 51% to 70% in a $350 million deal.
The corporate has undergone a collection of adjustments for the reason that demise of Swedish-Canadian founder Lukas Henrik Lundin in 2022. The agency relocated its headquarters from Toronto to Vancouver final 12 months, prompting a wave of management adjustments, and Lundin’s son Jack Lundin took over as chief govt officer in December.
The corporate owns three already-operating copper mines in South America — two in Chile and one in Brazil.
“We have now a powerful steadiness sheet immediately, and we’re not able the place we have to divest out of any of our belongings in our portfolio,” stated Jack Lundin, who declined to remark instantly on potential European asset gross sales in a Tuesday interview.
“We’re not required to make a sale to make our ambitions in South America a actuality.”
The world’s greatest mining firms are all looking for to develop in copper, in anticipation of rising costs as demand for clear energy and information facilities is forecast to outstrip provide in future years.
Zinc costs have equally rallied this 12 months on the again of constraints on mine provide, although the long-term outlook is clouded by the metallic’s heavy publicity to the downtrodden building sector.
Lundin has acquired unsolicited affords for Neves-Corvo earlier than, together with one which valued the operation at round $1 billion, in accordance with an individual acquainted with the matter.
(By Jacob Lorinc, Archie Hunter and Vinicy Chan)