Anglo American has launched a $5.3bn copper project in Peru and is drawing on its experiences at the troubled Minas Rio iron ore mine in Brazil to avoid repeating costly mistakes. Unlike the $13bn Minas Rio project, Anglo has a large partner in the Quellaveco mine, with Mitsubishi holding a 40% share after the Japanese company bumped up its stake in the project in August 2017 by paying Anglo $833m. Anglo is putting the money towards developing a 300,000-tonnes-a-year copper mine that will pay for itself four years after starting production in 2022. Anglo CEO Mark Cutifani said the company would pay for the project from cash flows, while chief financial officer Stephen Pearce said net debt, which fell by $500m to $4bn in the interim period, would remain under tight control. Anglo had learnt tough lessons in the decade it has owned Minas Rio, due to cost and time overruns, Cutifani said, adding that Quellaveco, the first big new mine to be built from scratch on his watch, was as deris...
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