TORONTO (miningweekly.com) - Vancouver-based Teck Resources has agreed to sell its 40% share of the Pogo gold mine, in Alaska, to Sumitomo Metal Mining, which, with Sumitomo Corp, owns the balance of the asset, for $245-million.

Teck has been selling off noncore assets - mainly gold - to bring in cash that will help it pay down and refinance the almost $10-billion in debt that it took on to acquire Fording Canadian Coal last year.

The company signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with Sumitomo, after receiving a third party offer "on comparable terms" for its Pogo interest.

The sale is subject to the negotiation and settlement of a definitive agreement, and the transaction is expected to close by the end of the second quarter, Teck said.

Last week, the company announced that it had renegotiated credit terms with its major lenders, which agreed to allow the company to defer $4,4-billion of payments due this year.

Teck has already agreed to sell its 50% in the Hemlo gold operations to Barrick for $65-million, and sold its 60% interest in the Lobo Marte gold property, in Chile, to Kinross in January, for 5,6-million Kinross shares, $40-million in cash and a net smelter returns royalty.

The firm is also planning to sell a stake in its coal assets to a strategic partner, and CEO Don Lindsay said on April 21, that discussions had entered an advanced stage with potential buyers, for gold exploration assets in Turkey.

Earlier this month, the company also announced that it would sell a portion of the gold produced at the Andacollo mine, in Chile, to Royal Gold for $300-million.

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