Aeris Bids US$575 Million for Glencore’s CSA Copper Mine

Aeris Resources (ASX:AIS) has put forward a US$575-million bid for Glencore’s (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF) CSA copper mine in New South Wales, Australia.

The offer for CSA currently consists of approximately US$525 million in cash and US$50 million in Aeris shares, along with a royalty payable to Glencore. According to Aeris, late-stage negotiations surrounding the offer are currently ongoing, but nothing is finalized at this time.

Also unfinalized is the company’s funding for the acquisition, though Aeris stated it is exploring a variety of options — including a combination of debt between US$250 million and US$300 million, an equity capital raising between US$185 million and US$240 million and a silver stream between US$35 million and US$40 million.

The CSA copper mine, which began operations in 1871, is a historical asset in New South Wales. After being passed around to a few different owners, Glencore acquired and reopened the asset in 1999.

It now produces over 1.1 million tonnes of copper ore and over 185,000 tonnes of copper concentrate annually, with the concentrate containing approximately 27 percent copper metal. Alongside CSA, Glencore also holds the Ernest Henry and Mount Isa copper operations in Australia.

As for Aeris, the company’s flagship asset is its Tritton copper operation — also in New South Wales — which consists of multiple underground mines, including Tritton and Murrawombie and a 1.8-million-tonne-per-year processing plant.

As of Tuesday (March 19), copper was trading at US$6,498 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange.

Aeris’ stock price remained unchanged at AU$0.17 by the end of trading on the ASX on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Glencore’s shares grew 3.01 percent on the LSE to GBX 320.15 by the end of the trading day on Wednesday (March 20).

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Securities Disclosure: I, Olivia Da Silva, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.