COPPER VENTURE
ARM and Vale to offload Lubambe mine in Zambia
African Rainbow Minerals says the mine will be sold to EMR Capital, a private-equity group, for $97.1m cash
African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) and its mining partner, Brazil’s Vale, have extricated themselves from an expensive investment in the Lubambe copper mine in Zambia, fulfilling a commitment chairman Patrice Motsepe made in 2016. The Lubambe mine, one of the key factors behind JSE-listed ARM’s fall into a full-year loss of R757m, was identified as an asset for sale by Motsepe during a results presentation. ARM said on Tuesday the mine would be sold to EMR Capital, a private-equity group, for $97.1m cash, marking the end of a venture that absorbed at least $400m and in 2016 produced 21,000 tonnes of copper. ARM’s copper division holds a 50% stake in the joint venture, which holds 80% of Lubambe, giving each partner 40% of the mine. Lubambe’s costs were the highest in a suite of ARM’s assets and efforts to rein them in proved difficult. State-owned Zambian Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings holds 20% of Lubambe. ARM impaired its investment in Lubambe by R1.4bn during 2016 and ...
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