Korea Resources Sells Part of its Madagascar Nickel Mine For $140 Million
Korea Resources Corp., a state- run resources explorer, will sell part of its stake in a nickel mine in Madagascar to Korean companies for $140 million to raise cash for future mining projects abroad.
The company will sign an agreement today to sell a 5 percent stake in the Ambatovy mine, Seoul-based Korea Resources said in an e-mail, confirming a Maeil Business Newspaper report.
Trading house Samsung C&T Corp. will buy 3 percent, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. 1.5 percent and Hyundai Corp. 0.5 percent, the e-mail said. Korea Resources held a 22.5 percent stake in the mine before the sale, it said.
South Korea, which imports almost all its energy and minerals, is competing with China and Japan to secure supplies of raw materials. The $4.65 billion Madagascar mine will produce 60,000 metric tons of nickel a year starting from 2011, according to the e-mail.
Korea Resources and other companies will receive 30,000 tons of the metal from the mine’s processing plant each year, meeting about a quarter of the North Asian nation’s annual needs, it said. Nickel is used to make stainless steel and in rechargeable batteries.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sungwoo Park in Seoul at spark47@bloomberg.net.
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