Mining giant Glencore (LON:GLEN) has announced plans to sell copper mines in both Australia and Chile, in an attempt to reduce its overall debt.
The firm’s Australian copper mine in Cobar, New South Wales, and its Lomas Bayas copper mine in the Atacama desert in Chile are for sale. Shares in the company have fallen over 55 percent this year, and this is the latest in a series of measures instigated to pull back the debt created by its 2013 takeover of Xstrata.
In a statement, the company said that the sale is a response to several “unsolicited expressions of interest”, and that it “will allow potential buyers to bid to purchase either one or both of the mines and may or may not result in a sale”.
The company has also pledged to cut capital expenditure, suspend dividend payments and raise $2.5 billion of new equity capital, with the share sale completed last month. On Friday, it announced plans to slash it’s zinc production, sending shares soaring.
Glencore are currently trading down 1.05 percent at 127.75 pence per share (0857GMT)
