Chinova Resources, owned by Chinese organisation Shanxi Donghui Energy Group, has announced that its Australian copper-gold operations are up for sale, with the intent to have a deal finalised by the end of 2023.
The operations in Queensland state include the Osborne copper gold processing plant, Mount Elliot mine, infrastructure including an airport, roads and a power plant, and a number of development sites. The mine is near the town of Cloncurry, 660km west of the port of Townsville.
Chinova Resources Executive Director, Theo Tsihlis, said that the Chinova package has had good interest from large, established, international miners, as well as ASX-listed junior to mid-cap mining companies looking for a relatively large acquisition to propel them onto the radar of institutional investors.
“Some multinational private equity groups have also shown interest,” Mr Tsihilis said.
“We would be expecting that an offer would be north of $300 million, and we would like to conclude it this year.”
Shanxi Donghui Energy Group bought the mine from Ivanhoe Australia in 2013.
Forecast production for 2024 is 7,900t of copper and 39,400oz of gold. A sales agreement for supply from Osborne is in place with commodity trader Hartree Partners.
Development projects include the Mt Dore copper heap leach project, which has an eleven year mine life and the Merlin molybdenum rhenium copper project.
Its mineral resources estimates include 3.9 million tonnes of contained copper, 6.8 million ounces of contained gold, 96,000t of molybdenum and 12,000t of cobalt.
