The company said that sale is triggered by Glencore receiving a number of unsolicited expressions of interest for from various potential buyers for these mines.
Glencore plans to sell the Cobar high-grade underground copper mine and a concentrate plant located in central western New South Wales, Australia.
The plant, which has approximately 1.1 million tons of ore production capacity annually, produces approximately 50,000 tons of copper in concentrate per annum.
The sale also includes the Lomas Bayas low-cost, open pit copper mine located in the Atacama desert, 120km north-east of the port of Antofagasta, Chil. The Lomas Bayas project is estimated to produce approximately 75,000 tons of copper cathode per annum.
Glencore also announced its plan to reduce zinc metal mine production by 500,000 tons across its operations in Australia, South America & Kazakhstan.
The amount of contained zinc metal production planned to be cut down represents one-third of Glencore’s annual zinc production and the plan has been revealed amidst fall in prices of zinc and lead.
As part of this effort, Glencore will close operations at Lady Loretta in Australia and Iscaycruz in Peru. It will also reduce production levels at George Fisher and McArthur River in Australia and various mine operations in Kazakhstan.
The company said it will put in place support services to help employees affected with the temporary decision.
Image: Glencore-operated Lomas Bayas copper mine. Photo: courtesy of Glencore.
