Aquila Resources Ltd., an Australian partner of Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, said it has held talks in China to sell stakes in its coking coal and manganese projects.
Aquila wants to sell as much as a 40 percent holding in its Washpool coking coal project in Queensland and 20 percent of its Avontuur manganese asset in South Africa, Chief Executive Officer Tony Poli said in an interview in Perth yesterday. Both projects are yet to have pre-feasibility studies and wouldn’t be operational until at least 2012, he said.
“We’re in the process of identifying a partner for both projects, companies that need either the coal or manganese or both.” Poli said, without naming the companies he held talks with last week. “Preferentially, it would be an end-user that would buy an interest in the project and take a good proportion of the off-take.”
Australia, the world’s biggest shipper of iron ore and coal, in February established a Senate inquiry into foreign ownership after a backlash against Chinese government-backed companies buying stakes in Australian commodity assets. Aquila produces coal in the Bowen Basin in Queensland state and has a 50 percent share in more than 10,000 square kilometers of tenements in Western Australia’s iron-ore rich Pilbara region.
Aquila shares rose 2.7 percent to A$4.26 at 11:07 a.m. Sydney time on the Australian stock exchange.
Poli holds a 30 percent stake in Aquila, according to Bloomberg data.
Rio de Janeiro-based Vale bought a controlling stake in Aquila’s Belvedere coal project in Queensland in July and will have a six-month option to buy Aquila’s remaining 24.5 percent stake from December.
“Should Vale exercise that option, that will provide Aquila with a cash injection,” Poli said.
Aquila has no plans to make acquisitions this year, Poli said. The company has about A$100 million in cash and A$12.5 million of debt, he said.
The company may seek funding for its A$4.1 billion West Pilbara iron ore project from the middle of 2010, he said. The West Pilbara project is estimated to contain 649 million metric tons of ore, 32 percent more than previously estimated, the company said April 24. An advanced development study is due to be completed by mid-2010, and production is due in mid-2013.
No comments:
Post a Comment