Anglo American to 'equalise' ownership across Moranbah North and Grosvenor

Anglo American announced the equalisation of ownership across its integrated metallurgical coal operations at Moranbah North and Grosvenor, in Queensland, Australia, on Wednesday.

The FTSE 100 mining giant said it owned 88% of the long-established Moranbah North mine and processing operation, with 12% held by a consortium of Japanese companies.

Meanwhile, the more recently commissioned and neighbouring Grosvenor mine was developed, and was wholly owned by Anglo American, coming onstream in 2016.

The Grosvenor mine uses Moranbah North's coal processing infrastructure, where numerous debottlenecking, expansion and product blending options offered considerable cost, productivity and margin benefits for the integrated operation, the company explained.

Anglo American said it had therefore sought to replicate the ownership structure of Moranbah North at Grosvenor, through the agreed sale of a 12% interest in the Grosvenor mine to the same consortium partners, in order to align the interests of all of the owners and to facilitate the delivery of those value creation opportunities.

Under the terms of the agreement, which remained subject to a number of conditions prior to completion, Anglo American would receive cash proceeds of $141m in respect of the 12% minority interest in the Grosvenor mine.

“The alignment of ownership interests across the Moranbah-Grosvenor operation is an important step forward as we unlock the considerable additional value that we see,” said Anglo American’s bulk commodities chief executive officer Seamus French.

“Our ability to expand the plant, debottleneck various processes, and have the flexibility to blend our naturally high quality products more effectively, all support the long term competitiveness of what is already a world-class asset.

“I am pleased to be building on the successful relationships with our joint venture partners in delivering Moranbah-Grosvenor's full potential for the benefit of all our stakeholders.”