Glencore to own 100% of Argentine copper project MARA

Switzerland-headquartered Glencore will be the sole owner of the MARA copper project in the Argentine province of Catamarca thanks to the acquisition of the 56.25% share owned by Canada’s Pan American Silver.

In a release on Monday, Glencore said it will pay Pan American US$475mn on the closing of the transaction and grant the Vancouver-based company a copper net smelter return royalty of 0.75%.

MARA, a combination of the former Alumbrera mine and Agua Rica project, would start operations at the end of 2026.

The project was first formed through the integration of the Minera Alumbrera plant and mining infrastructure and Agua Rica project in a joint venture between Yamana Gold, Glencore and Newmont in December 2020. 

Glencore acquired Newmont’s 18.75% stake in October 2022, bringing its shareholding to 43.75%. Pan American acquired Yamana Gold’s 56.25% stake as part of its acquisition of the latter this March.

MARA has proven and probable mineral reserves of 5.4Mt of copper and 7.4Moz of gold contained in 1.10Bt of ore. It has a 27-year mine life based on mineral reserves supported by more than 86km of drilling, according to Glencore. 

In Argentina, Glencore also owns the El Pachón copper project in San Juan province.

"The MARA project integrates two mining assets of great importance, the Agua Rica deposit that contains copper, gold, silver and molybdenum, and the operating site of Alumbrera that was in production for 21 years and currently has an active care and maintenance program,” MARA’s general manager Nicolás Bareta said in April.

Glencore believes MARA will be one of the world's top 25 copper producers, with average output of 200,000t/y in the first decade.

For Pan American, meanwhile, the divestment will mean giving priority to its portfolio of projects where it is the sole or majority owner, such as those located in Argentina (Cerro Moro and Navidad), in Peru (La Arena and Huarón), in Chile (Minera Florida and El Peñon) and in Brazil (Jacobina).

Glencore’s Latin American mining portfolio also includes the Altonorte smelter and Lomas Bayas copper assets in Chile’s Antofagasta region, as well as its Collahuasi JV in Tarapacá region.

In April, the company tried to seal a merger with Canada’s Teck Resources to add synergies between the latter’s Quebrada Blanca II copper project and Collahuasi but the offer was rejected.

CENTENARIO-RATONES

Glencore also agreed a deal with France’s Eramet to commercialize lithium from the Centenario-Ratones project in Salta province.

The agreement establishes a prepayment of US$400mn to sell some 50,000t of lithium carbonate in the first phase of the project, Eramet said in a press release last week.

Centenario-Ratones is due to start operations in 2025.