Phoenix, Arizona-headquartered Freeport-McMoran (FCX) has announced an agreement to sell its Kokkola cobalt refinery and related cobalt cathode precursor business to Begium’s Umicore for about $150-million, plus working capital at the time of close.
Toronto-listed Lundin Mining is a joint venture (JV) partner in the cobalt business and will receive 30% of the proceeds.
Under the terms of the agreement, FCX will separate its cobalt business to allow for Umicore to acquire the refinery and cathode precursor business, while FCX and Lundin will retain Freeport Cobalt’s remaining cobalt business with operations.
The retained cobalt business is a leading global producer of cobalt fine powders, chemicals, catalyst, ceramics and pigments.
The transaction is expected to close by year-end 2019.