A great debt: Glencore exploring potential sale of Kazakhstan gold mine

The Financial Times has revealed that Glencore, the largest commodity trader in the world, could potentially sell one of its biggest gold mines.

Vasilkovskoye, Kazakhstan, part of Gelncore’s Kazzinc subsidiary, could be sold for up to $2billion to help lower the company’s $18bn debt.

The mine has more than 5m oz of proven and probable gold reserves and with an increase in the price of Gold, up 20 per cent in 2016, there has been a something of a recovery for gold focused operators in the mining industry.

Steven Kalmin, Glencore’s chief financial officer, said the company is always looking for ways to sell its non-core assets– and reach its target of lowering its net debt to $18bn this year.

He said: “We still produce significant gold and silver — non-core for us — in South America, North America, Kazakhstan [and] Australia and we’re looking at further monetisation there.”

Glencore owns 70% of Vasilkovskoye through its subsidiary Kazzinc. With a focus solely on the production of Gold, Vasilkovskoye will attract strong attention from potential buyers, particularly from dedicated gold miners as opposed to financial companies.

Glencore has appointed BMO Capital Markets and Duetsche Bank to explore and support any potential deal that would take place.

Source :Financial Times

Follow @MiningGlobal

Read the May 2016 issue of Mining Global magazine