Rio Tinto Selling Northparkes Interest to China Molybdenum
The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2013.
Northparkes is a block caving underground operation located 27 km northwest of the town of Parkes in the central west region of New South Wales. In 2012, the Northparkes concentrator processed 5.65 million mt of ore and produced a highgrade concentrate containing 54,000 mt of copper and 72,000 oz of gold. The concentrate is railed to Port Kembla, New South Wales, and then shipped to smelters in Japan and China.
Northparkes has been operating since 1993 and has a remaining life of more than 20 years.
China Molybdenum is listed on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges; is headquartered in Luoyang City, Henan province, China; and is China’s largest molybdenum producer, as well as a producer of tungsten and precious metals. The company is fully integrated from mining and processing to smelting, downstream processing, trade, and research and development. The company’s flagship asset is its Sandaozhuang molybdenum-tungsten mine, a 15-million-mt/y open-pit mine with a mine life of more than 30 years.
China Molybdenum’s agreement with Rio Tinto is the company’s first venture into operations outside of China.