South African miners join race to buy Khoemacau copper mine

Reuters | September 5, 2023 | 

Khoemacau’s copper-silver project in Botswana. Credit: Fluor

At least three South African miners are in the running to buy Botswana’s Khoemacau copper mine that is home to one of Africa’s largest copper deposits, several sources told Reuters, as growing demand for the metal ensures strong competition for the sought-after asset.


Johannesburg-listed Impala Platinum, Exxaro Resources and Sibanye Stillwater are weighing bids for the copper and silver mine in Botswana, said the sources with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the information.

A number of unnamed Chinese investors, are also on the list of companies interested in Khoemacau Copper Mining operations, one of the sources said.

Impala declined to comment. Exxaro did not immediately respond to emailed questions. Sibanye confirmed its interest.

“We are looking all the time for opportunities and Khoemacau came up on our radar and we have entered into an non-disclosure agreement to try and understand the opportunity better,” Sibanye spokesperson James Wellsted told Reuters. “But Khoemacau is a bit more competitive and we are not going to enter into a bidding war that ends up not creating value.”

An increase in copper demand for applications from solar panels to electric cars in coming years has prompted miners to scramble for more supplies of the metal.

Copper prices have fallen due to fears of a global slowdown, but longer-term prospects for the metal and a competitive bidding process will make it hard for any of the bidders to strike a bargain, two of the sources said.

Khoemacau’s owners – Cupric Canyon LP, a US private equity firm with funds managed by Global Natural Resources Investments (GNRI) and Resource Capital Fund VII LP – said in May they had begun to engage with potential buyers.

The process is expected to take several months and be finalised close to the end of 2023, a Khoemacau spokesperson said.

Diversified miner South32 and Australian rival Sandfire Resources dropped out of the race after the first bidding round due to the mine’s high valuation, the two sources said.

Khoemacau may be valued at between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, three banking sources added.

South32’s CEO Graham Kerr appeared to balk at the cost during the company’s earnings results in August, saying:”That’s probably a very competitive process and one that will be a little bit too rich for our blood.”

South32 declined to comment further.

Analysts at Citigroup said in a note that while the assets could be valued at $1.8 billion, the investment would be worthwhile for South32 at $1.2 billion.

A spokesperson for Sandfire declined to comment on the process.

Khoemacau is located in the Kalahari Copper Belt, a vast swathe of land that stretches from north-east Botswana to parts of western Namibia.

It produces about 60,000 tons of copper and about 2 million ounces of silver per year. Future output could be ramped up to about 130,000 tons of copper and 5 million ounces of silver per year with additional investments.

Khoemacau’s owners are open to either a partnership or an outright sale, one of the sources said.

(By Felix Njini and Clara Denina; Editing by Deepa Babington)

Chinese firms vie for $2 billion Botswana copper mine

Bloomberg News | September 5, 2023 | 

Credit: Khoemacau Copper Mining

Three Chinese groups are among suitors still in the race to acquire a Botswana copper mine that could fetch about $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.


Zijin Mining Group Co., MMG Ltd. and Aluminium Corp. of China, known as Chinalco, have progressed to the second round of bidding for the Khoemacau project, the people said.

MMG has been in talks to team up with Citic Metal Co., an arm of Chinese state-owned conglomerate Citic Group, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., known as Implats, and fellow South African miner Exxaro Resources Ltd. have also been shortlisted, the people said.

Khoemacau’s major shareholder, London-based private equity firm GNRI, could pick a winner as soon as the next few weeks, the people said. Deliberations are ongoing, and there’s no certainty they will lead to a transaction.

The world’s biggest miners, including BHP Group and Rio Tinto Group, are seeking to expand in copper, as consumption of the metal in electric vehicles and renewable energy is projected to soar.

Khoemacau, which has been ramping up annual output to 60,000 tons after starting operations in mid-2021, would add to the significant copper portfolios already held by Zijin and MMG. Production from the mine — in the Kalahari copper belt that stretches from northwest Botswana to western Namibia — can be expanded to around 130,000 tons a year, according to the company’s website.

Representatives for Citic Metal, Implats and Khoemacau declined to comment. Spokespeople for Chinalco, Exxaro, GNRI and MMG didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment, while a representative for Zijin said they didn’t have knowledge of the matter.

GNRI was formed from a 2015 management buyout of Barclays Plc’s natural resources private equity business.

(By Dinesh Nair, Vinicy Chan and William Clowes, with assistance from Jack Farchy, Paul Burkhardt, Thomas Biesheuvel, Winnie Zhu and Martin Ritchie)