Glencore International yesterday said it had acquired Pan American Silver’s 56.25% stake in the copper Mara Project for R8.5 billion.
Mara, located in the Catamarca province of Argentina, has proven and probable mineral reserves of 5.4 million tonnes of copper and 7.4 million ounces of gold contained in 1.105 billion tonnes of ore. It has a 27-year mine life based on mineral reserves supported by more than 86 kms of drilling.
The brownfield copper project ranks as one of the lowest capital-intensive copper projects in the world today, owing to the existing well maintained Alumbrera processing plant and associated infrastructure.
Mara is expected to be in the top 25 global copper producers when operational, with an expected average copper production over the first 10 full years exceeding 200 kilo ton per annum.
Under the terms of the agreement, Glencore will pay $475 million (R8.5 billion) in cash upon closing, and grant Pan American a copper Net Smelter Return (NSR) royalty of 0.75%.
The project was first formed through the integration of the Minera Alumbrera plant and mining infrastructure and Agua Rica project in a joint venture between Yamana Gold, Glencore and Newmont in December 2020.
Glencore acquired Newmont’s 18.75% stake in October 2022, bringing its shareholding to 43.75%.
Pan American acquired Yamana Gold’s 56.25% stake as part of its acquisition of Yamana Gold in March 2023.
Glencore said it had extensive institutional knowledge of the asset and the jurisdiction, based on its successful history of running the Alumbrera operations prior to the integration with Agua Rica in 2020.
The closing of the transaction was subject to customary conditions and regulatory filings.
Glencore said it expected the transaction to be completed in the third quarter of 2023.
BUSINESS REPORT