PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Metals miner MMG has executed a share sales agreement to divest of its idled Avebury nickel mine, in Tasmania, in a deal valued at A$25-million.
The agreement, with privately held Dundas Mining, would see MMG receive a deposit of A$1.5-million on the signing of the agreement, with a further A$23.5-million due on the completion of the transaction.
MMG Australian operations GM Rick Watsford said the company believed the offer was the best outcome for MMG and the Avebury asset, which has been on care and maintenance since 2009.
Following an internal review, MMG initiated an expression of interest process for the asset. The company believes selling the asset provides the best opportunity to restart the mine.
“Dundas Mining is committed to a restart of the mine and MMG is confident that the sale will reinvigorate the Zeehan area by providing new jobs and economic benefit to the region,” Watsford said.
The sale is subject to a number of conditions precedent, including MMG board approval.
MMG in 2014 tried to divest of the Avebury mine, inking a A$40-million deal with QCG Resources, but the transaction fell through.
MMG is also looking for buyers for its Golden Grove copper mine, in Western Australia. The company started an expression of interest process, which it aims to conclude by year-end.
The group’s production focus has shifted to the Las Bambas copper mine, in Peru, which started operating commercially this year.