New bidders join battle for Glencore’s Cobar copper mine

CSA produces more than 1.1 million tonnes of copper ore and in excess of 185,000 tonnes of copper concentrate a year, which is exported to smelters in India, China and Asia. Picture: Bloomberg

Bids for Glencore’s $1bn Cobar copper mine were due last week and two new names have emerged as being among the suitors.

DataRoom can reveal that among the groups vying for the NSW copper mine named CSA are the Nev Power and Bill Beament-backed special purpose acquisition company Metals Acquisitions Corporation, and Moxico Resources.

The Power-Beament SPAC in July raised $US250m to position itself for acquisitions in the battery minerals space in Australia and North America.

Mr Beament is the former Northern Star chairman and Mr Power is the former boss of Fortescue Metals. The SPAC is also supported by global names in mining, including Mick McMullen and funds such as Apollo Global Management, Tiger Global, Millennium and Tribeca.

The company is believed to have partnered with some of Australia’s wealthiest families including the Perth-based Wyllies and Queensland’s Flannery family.

Meanwhile, Moxico Resources is based in London and run by former Rio Tinto executive Alan Davies. It owns copper and zinc exploration assets in Zambia.

The understanding is that Moxico is keen to float its business in London, and while some have questioned whether it would have the funds to buy CSA, the likelihood is that its tilt would be funded by private equity or wealthy investors.

Working on the sale of Glencore’s CSA are Bank of America and UBS and it comes at a time that the copper price has been at strong in recent months.

As reported earlier by this column, listed copper miners Aeris Resources and 29Metals were also taking a look at the CSA mine in Cobar.

29Metals – recently listed by the private equity firm EMR Capital – has a market value of about $1.3bn, while Aeris, a diversified miner that produces copper and gold, has a market value of about $370m.

Aeris previously planned to buy the mine for $US575m, but terms could not be agreed.

Sources say interest could be cooling due to Glencore’s high price expectations. CSA produces more than 1.1 million tonnes of copper ore and in excess of 185,000 tonnes of copper concentrate a year, which is exported to smelters in India, China and Asia.

Glencore tried to sell the CSA mine about five years ago to drive down debt but decided to retain the asset when there was a spike in commodity prices.

Additional reporting: Nick Evans