Private equity firm EMR Capital is understood to be preparing the plans for an IPO of its Golden Grove mine and other copper assets, with advisers Macquarie Capital and Credit Suisse working towards a listing in the second quarter of this year.
It comes at a time copper prices are booming.
Included in the listing is expected to be 80 per cent of the Lumbabe copper mine in Zambia, acquired in a $US97m deal.
It is also likely to add its Capricorn copper operation to the package, which was bought for $45m in 2015 and undergone $100m in investment.
The sales process for Golden Grove — a base metals mine that produces copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver — also remains in full swing, with it weighing up whether a trade sale will extract more value than a listing.
Sources say one or two miners that have made it through to round two, along with some gold streaming investors. For Golden Grove, Sandfire Resources is thought to be a strong contender.
EMR Capital also owns the Kestrel coal mine in Queensland, which it purchased with Adaro Energy in 2018 for $US2.25bn.
The asset is being closely watched by turnaround funds as it wrestles with operational issues, driving up costs.
The sales process for gold mine Tropicana is now also in the second stage.
Sources say that through to the second round of the Macquarie Capital-run process to buy a 30 per cent interest in Tropicana — worth about $1bn — is understood to be Gold Road Resources, run by Duncan Gibbs, Evolution Mining and a number of gold streaming companies that are interested in the ongoing revenue stream from gold production.
The key question with Tropicana is whether IGO’s joint venture owner on the mine, AngloGold, exercises its pre-emptive rights for ownership.
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