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Glencore has conducted preliminary discussions about the sale of his billion-dollar copper and cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which would be a significant change in strategy of the largest western investor in the African country.
The FTSE 100 group rejected an unsolicited offer for the mines of a potential buyer in the Middle East last month, since the offer was too low, according to people who were familiar with the matter.
According to several people who are familiar with the matter, the company would consider the sales part or the entire Congolese assets for the right price.
Some of the people added that the company had not started a formal sales process and it was possible that no business would be completed.
Glencore Has the MUSTANDA Copper-Cobalt-Mine and a 75 percent participation in the Kamoto Copper Company, in which Congolese state miner Gécamines also has a participation. Analysts at RBC appreciate the mines at $ 6.8 billion.
The mines were an integral part of Glencores Pitch to western car manufacturers to be their choice for a number of electric vehicle metals.
The global rush for copper, a red metal used for cables, cables and electric vehicles, has triggered a wave of mergers and acquisitions among the large miners.
However, the Congolese mines were far less profitable than the other copper assets of Glencore, which were only achieved in 2023 $ 195 million for income of $ 2.4 billion, due to operational setbacks and low cobalt prices.
Last February, Glencore took over input tax attention of USD 1 billion for Congolese copper mines due to poor cobalt market conditions and the handling of a tax dispute.
Glencore said in a statement: “At the end of last year, Glencore received an undesirable approach to his business in Dr. Congo. The approach was rejected. Glencore has not hired banks or consultants and does not carry out a sales process for his business in the DR Congo. “
In the past few weeks, according to people who are familiar with the conversations, Glencore has had informal discussions with potential buyers about the future of his assets in Kazakhstan.
Last year Glencore has a sales process for KazzinC, a large zinc, lead and gold producer, where he holds a share of 70 percent. RBC estimates the value of the share to $ 5.1 billion.
Sales may be the largest departures from Glencore since the managing director Gary Nagle took over the helm in 2021.
Glencore refused to comment on the potential sale of assets in Kazakhstan.
The departure from Dr. Congo would be a major setback to the country’s attempts to guess western investments in order to reduce the dependence on China. In addition to Kazakhstan-based Eurasian resource group, Glencore is the only important non-Chinese foreign investor in the country’s mines.
The Congolese mines from Glencore produced 225,000 tons of copper and 35,000 tons of cobalt last year and made the group the second largest cobalt producer in the world.
Every potential sale would due to the fact that Glencore pays license fees for the production of the mines to the production of the mines to the Israeli businessman Dan Gertler, who is under US sanctions.
Glencore is one of the world’s largest raw material dealers and also has a large mining portfolio. It is the sixth largest copper producer in the world and the top-west producer of thermal coal.
Last year, Glencore held short merger talks with the Anglo-Australian group Rio Tinto and last year made an enemy offer of USD 23 billion to acquire Teck Resources of Canada that was rejected.
The company should report its annual results on Wednesday.
