Twelve companies eyeing up Enami's Quebrada Blanca stake

Chile's state minerals company Enami will conduct technical visits in April to the Quebrada Blanca copper mine for companies interested in acquiring its 10% stake in the operation, an Enami spokesperson confirmed to BNamericas. About a dozen companies, mainly international, have purchased the bidding rules to buy Enami's stake, spokesperson Claudia Núñez said, adding that the period to acquire the bidding rules has now closed. Open-pit Quebrada Blanca in northern Chile's Region I produces around 79,000t/y of copper cathodes. The companies reportedly most interested in snapping up Enami's 10% are the operation's two other owners: Canada's Aur Resources (TSX: AUR), which already holds 76.5%; and local group Inversiones Mineras with 13.5%. The minimum bidding price has not been revealed but Enami's board previously placed a price of some US$30mn on the stake. Enami launched the bidding process for its interest in Quebrada Blanca in early February. The sell-off is expected to be complete in the first half of 2005, according to the spokesperson. Enami's role is to promote Chile's small- and mid-sized miners through assistance in mine development and mineral processing. It is selling its Quebrada Blanca stake as part of a plan to pay off US$450mn in debts. The main chunk of debt will be settled by the sell-off its Ventanas smelter-refinery to state copper miner Codelco for US$393mn in a transaction expected to be complete by early May.