Firat Kayakiran and Brett Foley
Anglo American was considering adding two coal mines to a list of projects it was seeking to sell in Australia, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
The company might sell the Dawson and Foxleigh operations in the country’s north-eastern Queensland state, after putting the Callide and Dartbrook projects up for sale in December, the person said, asking not be identified because the information isn’t public.
Anglo American was seeking to sell stakes in or exit South African and Australian energy-coal operations that supplied domestic markets as part of a review of assets designed to bolster profitability, chief executive Mark Cutifani said last month.
Prices of thermal coal, used to generate electricity, have tumbled more than half since 2011 on supply additions and slowing demand in China, the biggest consumer.
The company was also seeking buyers for four platinum mines in South Africa as well as three copper mines and a smelter in Chile. The South American assets were valued at $1 billion (R11.38bn), people familiar with the matter said on October 7 last year.
Jacqui Strambi, a spokeswoman for Anglo American in Brisbane, declined to comment on the sale of the Dawson and Foxleigh mines, but said the company was reviewing its coal assets. The Dawson mine produces coal for power stations as well as coking coal used in steelmaking. The Foxleigh mine also produces steelmaking coal.
The Financial Times reported earlier that the company was considering a sale of the mines, citing unidentified people. Anglo’s Australian coal mines produced about 14.7 million metric tons of steelmaking coal and 8.5 million tons of energy coal in the first nine months of 2014, the company said.
In July the London-based company agreed to sell its 50 percent stake in Lafarge Tarmac to partner Lafarge SA for at least $1.5 billion. – Bloomberg