JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – TSX- and NYSE-listed senior gold producer Goldcorp has completed the $50-million sale of its 21% minority interest in the San Nicolas copper/zinc project, located in Zacatecas, Mexico to Canadian diversified miner Teck Resources.
The closing follows receipt of Mexican anti-trust approval and the satisfaction of closing conditions customary in a transaction of this nature.
The transaction fully consolidated Teck’s ownership of the project and is part of Goldcorp’s ongoing strategy to pare noncore assets in pursuit of portfolio optimisation and debt repayment.
Teck in March launched its ‘Project Satellite’ initiative, the focus of which is to surface value from five substantial base metals assets – Zafranal (Peru), San Nicolás, Galore Creek, Schaft Creek (all in British Columbia) and Mesaba (in Northern Minnesota).
Teck said its approach is to work with existing and potentially new partners on “appropriate” and “prudently funded” work to advance engineering and design, as well as social and environmental activities. It suggested that value capture could be achieved through various commercial or development options, including full divestment, further investment by Teck, partnering, vend-in or public offering.