Deals in brief

Chile’s Codelco raises $2bn for debt refinancing and mine expansions

Chile’s copper producer Codelco has raised $2bn bonds to secure financing for its multibillion-dollar upgrade projects, as well as to refinance debt and maintain a significant cash position.

The state-owned company has sold $1bn in ten-year bonds and obtained a further $1bn in 30-year bonds issued in September 2019, yielding 3.175% and 3,958% respectively.

Codelco has secured the funds under a new financing strategy that includes loans and the sale of non-structural assets.

The latest move comes a day after the Chilean Government decided to rule out a capital injection for the copper company.

Codelco administration and finance vice-president Alejandro Rivera said: “A favourable debt market, with base rates at historically low levels, makes pre-financing the cash needs of 2021 appealing.

“On the other hand, the conditions obtained in this process confirm that investors maintain their trust in Codelco and the development of their project portfolio.”

Through the issuance of these bonds, Codelco maintains its strategy of matching its debt amortisation profile with structural projects, including Underground Chuquicamata, Nuevo Mina Level, Rajo Inca and Andean Transfer, which operate at full capacity.

Chile’s Minister of Finance Ignacio Briones said: “We aren’t talking about a new capitalisation, but the government has always supported Codelco to get access to financing through capitalisation and international markets.”

In November 2019, Codelco said it is investing $5.6bn into its Chuquiacamata mine to convert the century-old operation from an open-pit mine to an underground project.

The mine stretches nearly 3,000ft below the Earth’s surface.

Hexagon extends portfolio with Blast Movement Technologies acquisition

Autonomous solutions provider Hexagon has strengthened its Smart Mine solutions portfolio with the acquisition of Blast Movement Technologies (BMT), a provider of blast movement monitoring and analysis for open-pit mines.

BMT’s technologies will be a complementary addition to Hexagon’s drilling and blasting solutions and will enable accurate delineation of ore boundaries, such as ore location information, after blasting in open-pit mining.

Panoramic Resources to sell Canada’s Panoramic PGMs to Regency Gold

Nickel miner Panoramic Resources has signed a share purchase agreement (SPA) in line with its wholly owned subsidiary Magma Metals selling all the shares of its Canada-based Panoramic PGMs subsidiary to Regency Gold.

Panoramic PGMs is the 100% owner of Thunder Bay North project in Northern Ontario, Canada.

Canada’s metals & mining industry sees a drop of 10.5% in deal activity in November 2019

A total of 34 deals worth $4.47bn were announced in November 2019, compared to the 12-month average of 38 deals.

M&A was the leading category in the month in terms of volume with 32 deals which accounted for 94.1% of all deals.

Metals & mining industry M&A deals in November 2019 total $10.34bn globally

The value marked an increase of 217.2% over the previous month and a rise of 157.2% when compared with the last 12-month average, which stood at $4.02bn.

Comparing deals value in different regions of the globe, North America held the top position, with total announced deals in the period worth $4.32bn. At the country level, Canada topped the list in terms of deal value at $4.31bn.

Metals & mining industry deals in November 2019 total $10.51bn globally

The value marked an increase of 221% over the previous month and a rise of 142.5% when compared with the last 12-month average of $4.33bn.

In terms of number of deals, the sector saw a drop of 1.8% over the last 12-month average with 108 deals against the average of 110 deals. In value terms, North America led the activity with deals worth $4.47bn.