The transaction involves a US$520 million disbursement by Codelco to acquire Enami's stake in the important mining deposit of the Canadian company Teck.
Finally, Chilean state-owned companies Codelco and Enami concluded the process of buying and selling 10% of the Quebrada Blanca property.
The transaction involves a US$520 million disbursement by Codelco to acquire Enami's stake in the important mining deposit of the Canadian company Teck.
According to the companies, the due diligence process (a type of audit) has been completed, and the remaining US$338 million - the second payment - has been delivered to complete the purchase price.
PURCHASE AND SALE OF 10% OF QUEBRADA BLANCA CONCLUDES
Quebrada Blanca is considered a “mega copper deposit” with a resource base of 10 billion tons and, once its second phase is fully operational, it is expected to position itself among the 20 operations with the highest copper production worldwide.
Within Chile, and considering its production level in 2023, it would be ranked as the sixth mine after Escondida, Collaguasi, El Teniente, Radomiro Tomic and Los Pelambres.
However, the transaction sparked criticism from the mining industry and experts, who said that a fair price was not charged for the 10% of Quebrada Blanca.
In this context, Enami's executive vice president, Iván Mlynarz, said that "the parties reviewed the asset in depth.
The analyses confirm that the transaction was carried out at a fair market price, with significant benefits for both state-owned companies.”
“The money received from this operation means that Enami will continue to make progress in its financial sustainability, as it will allow us to pay off our debt, strengthen our position and meet the goal of having a debt in line with the size of our company,” added Mlynarz.
For his part, Codelco's Chairman of the Board, Máximo Pacheco, said that the closing of the process "is also accompanied by the collaboration agreement between our companies," where they will work in different areas, including the identification of opportunities to expand smelting capacity and others related to the national lithium strategy.
“This transaction is a good example of the path that the Corporation has followed, strengthening partnerships with third parties (…) With this purchase, Teck joins our list of partners, which already includes Freeport-McMoRan (El Abra), Ango American (Anglo American Sur) and Rio Tinto (Nuevo Cobre),” concluded Pacheco.
