Anglo American sells Australian coal mines for £810 million

Anglo American has agreed to sell its stake in a joint venture operating two Australian steel coal mines, as the miner prepares to exit the market.

The FTSE 100 group told shareholders on Monday it would sell its 33 percent stake in the Jellinbah Group, which owns 70 percent of the Jellinbah East and Lake Vermont mines, to Zashvin for cash proceeds of AUS$1.6 billion (£ 810 million).

Anglo is currently reviewing its operations in an effort to simplify. According to Duncan Wanblad, the group would reach an agreement on the sale of its remaining Australian steelmaking assets ‘in the coming months’.

The latest sale to Zashvin, which is also a 33.3 percent shareholder in Jellinbah, is expected to close in the second quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approval.

Zashvin’s James Xu of Zashvin said Jellinbah’s success has been “driven by robust partnerships”, noting Anglo’s “important role in this journey” and its “commitment to making this transaction smooth and efficient”.

Anglo-American stocks rose 1.1 per cent to 2,421.5p in early trade, after rising around 23 per cent since the start of the year.

The 107-year-old mining giant’s 2024 has been dominated by a major change in strategy, with the FTSE 100 company expected to sell its nickel, coal, De Beers diamond and platinum businesses within two years.

Anglo’s strategy gamble follows the rejection of a £39 billion takeover approach from Australian mining giant BHP.

Some analysts believe Anglo remains vulnerable to takeover approaches, while BHP would still be interested.

Boss Wanblad said on Monday: ‘We are making excellent progress with our simplification of Anglo American to create an exciting and differentiated investment proposition, focused on our world-class copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients – all products that enable the future.

‘This highly cash-generative portfolio with much higher margins will provide greater resilience through cycles and benefit from significant high-quality and well-sequenced growth opportunities, including a clear path to increase annual copper production to over one million tonnes by the early 2030s . ‘