CITIC invests $560 million to acquire stake in Ivanhoe Mines

A Southern African mining operator, with a number of exploration and development projects, has received a major investment from a Chinese mining subsidiary.

Ivanhoe Mines announced in a statement this week that it has reached an agreement with CITIC Metal Co, which is a subsidiary of CITIC Limited, for the Chinese firm to make a major investment into the company and acquire a 19.9% stake.

The deal has been valued at around $560 million and will see CITIC become Ivannhoe’s largest single shareholder.

CITIC Limited is China’s largest conglomerate with assets of more than $900 billion. Through its CITIC Metal subsidiary, it specialises in the import and distribution of copper, zinc and platinum group metals.

Ivanhoe Mines is advancing its three principal projects in Southern Africa: 1) Mine development at the Platreef platinum-palladium-nickel-copper-gold discovery on the Northern Limb of South Africa’s Bushveld Complex; 2) mine development and exploration at the tier-one Kamoa-Kakula copper discovery on the Central African Copperbelt in the Democratic Republic of Congo; and 3) upgrading at the historic, high-grade Kipushi zinc-copper-silver-germanium mine, also on the DRC’s Copperbelt.
 

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Robert Friedland, Ivanehoe Chairman, said the agreement with CITIC Metal is the culmination of a 15-year relationship between the leaderships of Ivanhoe Mines and CITIC. “In 2003, the original Ivanhoe Mines was grappling with the challenge of developing its vast copper-gold discoveries at the Oyu Tolgoi Project in southern Mongolia. Following extensive discussions, Ivanhoe and CITIC established a strategic alliance to cooperatively pursue a number of selected common interests in