"Glencore, carmakers lead $1bn acquisition of Appian nickel-copper mines in Brazil"

" Glencore, carmakers lead $1bn acquisition of Appian nickel-copper mines in Brazil \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\nPrivate equity firm Appian Capital Advisory is\u00a0 selling its wholly owned \u00a0Atlantic Nickel and Minera\u00e7\u00e3o Vale Verde operations in Brazil to ACG Acquisition Company Limited (LON: ACG) for $1 billion cash, with capital coming from battery metals hungry actors, including Glencore (LON: GLEN) and Volkswagen.\r\n\r\nThe deal includes the sale of Appian\u2019s gold royalty on Minera\u00e7\u00e3o Vale Verde (MVV) to ACG for further $65 million.\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\nThe companies said the transaction will position ACG as the only\u00a0London-listed nickel sulphide producer of scale. The firm has entered into long-term investment partnerships with Glencore, PowerCo (Volkswagen\u2019s in-house battery development subsidiary) and Stellantis (owner of Fiat and Peugeot), for offtake and funding.\r\n\r\nGlencore will invest $100 million in ACG equity. Stellantis and mining investment fund La Mancha will each provide an equity investment of the same amount, while PowerCo will make a $100 million nickel prepayment.\r\n\r\nUpon closing, ACG will be renamed ACG Electric Metals and issue new shares, making Glencore, Stellantis and La Mancha owners of 51% and leaving 49% for free float.\r\n\r\nAppian put the two operations up for sale in 2021, which were initially\u00a0 snatched by Sibanye-Stillwater \u00a0(JSE: SSW) (NYSE: SBSW). The South African miner\u00a0 backed out \u00a0of the multi-million deal a few months later, citing a \u201cgeotechnical event\u201d at the Santa Rita mine in north-eastern Brazil.\r\n\r\nThe British investment firm\u00a0 said at the time \u00a0the instability quoted by Sibanye was a \u201clocalized\u201d crack in the mine\u2019s pit wall, which had been fixed and would have no impact on the open-pit mine\u2019s life.\r\n\r\nAppian began\u00a0legal proceedings\u00a0against Sibanye in a in a $1.2 billion claim, According to the South African miner\u2019s financial reports, a trial is set to begin in June 2024.\r\n\r\nAppian acquired Atlantic Nickel, owner of the Santa Rita open pit nickel mine, in the Brazilian state of in Bahia, in 2018. The same year Appian also purchased MVV, owner of the Serrote greenfield open-pit copper-gold asset located in Brazil northeastern state of Alagoas.\r\n <img class=\"wp-image-1120050\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/serrote-brazil.jpeg\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/serrote-brazil.jpeg 900w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/serrote-brazil-300x167.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/serrote-brazil-768x427.jpeg 768w\" alt=\"Appian sells nickel-copper mines in Brazil to ACG for $1 billion\" width=\"900\" height=\"500\" \/> The Serrote copper-gold project in Brazil. ( Image courtesy of\u00a0 Minera\u00e7\u00e3o Vale Verde. ) \r\nOpen-pit operations\u00a0at Santa Rita resumed in 2020 and are\u00a0expected to last until 2028, with annual production estimated at 16,000\u00a0tonnes\u00a0nickel-equivalent a year.\u00a0Santa Rita will then be\u00a0transitioned into an underground mining operation, extending the life of the mine from eight to 34 years.\r\n\r\nAppian recently updated the definitive feasibility study\u00a0for Serrote project, which outlines a 14-year mine life with production of about 20,000 tonnes of copper equivalent a year.\r\n Russian ties \r\nACG, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), raised $125 million in a London initial public offering in late 2022 to target \u201cnew economy\u201d metal assets.\r\n\r\nThe company is led by Russian metal industry veteran Artem Volynets as chief executive officer. He worked previously in companies backed by Russian tycoons Viktor Vekselberg and Oleg Deripaska and held the position of head of strategy at Deripaska\u2019s United Co. Rusal, one of the world\u2019s largest aluminum producers.\r\n\r\nVolynets later served as CEO of Rusal\u2019s parent company, En+ Group and, more recently, he led Chaarat Gold (LON:CGH), which has gold mines in Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.\r\n\r\nShortages of copper, cobalt, nickel and other industrial materials needed for the shift to a low carbon world are expected, due to both underinvestment in the\u00a0mining\u00a0sector and accelerating demand of those metals.\r\n\r\nSPACs are\u00a0 shell companies that raise money \u00a0via an initial public offering (IPO) and later merge with a private company, taking it public.\r\n\r\nOnly a few such deals have taken place in mining,\u00a0 including Vision Blue Resources , a fund created by former Xstrata boss Mick Davis backing a $300 million SPAC, and Metals Acquisition Corp (NYSE: MTAL), which listed in New York and\u00a0 recently bought \u00a0Glencore\u2019s CSA copper mine in New South Wales, Australia.\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n "

"Glencore, carmakers lead $1bn acquisition of Appian nickel-copper mines in Brazil"

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