Salim Group Acquires Australian Coal Mine for Rp3.1tn
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Kamis, 1 Januari 1970 07:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Melbourne - Salim Group is venturing into the coal-mining industry by purchasing a coal mine in Australia. The company has acwuired a large coal mine in New South Wales from Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) for a reported US$224 million (Rp3.1 trillion) plus royalties.
Rio Tinto said on Wednesday that it had sold Mount Pleasant Mount Pleasant, a large-scale thermal coal asset, to MACH Energy Australia, which is fully owned by Salim Group through Droxford International.
This is not Salim Group's first expansion to Australia. In 2014, Salim Group's holding company in Hong Kong, First Pacific, bought 50 percent stake in Australian food producer Goodman Fielder. The group also acquired Sydney-based mining company Robust Resources through Droxford for US$70.5 million.
MACH Energy Australia said on Wednesday, January 27, that it would buy Mount Pleasant, which is estimated to have 474 million tons of coal reserves, for US$224 million plus royalties.
"MACH expects first production of coal in late 2017," it said on its web site, adding that the mine would produce high quality, "clean energy coal" for export.
MACH will pay Rio Tinto over 16 months, and the additional royalty will be due only when coal prices top US$72.5 a ton. The average price of coal is currently U$47.37 per ton.
Rio Tinto and MACH made the deal at a time when coal price slumps to its nine-year low, with uncertain outlook for a recovery amid international efforts to reduce carbon emissions. Rio Tinto decided to delay the development of its mine until prices rebound.
Mount Pleasant can have a very positive future under its new owners with different priorities for development and capital allocation," Rio Tinto copper and coal chief executive, Jean-Sebastien Jacques, said in a statement.
Ross Taylor, president and founder of the Indonesia Institute, an Australian-based NGO, said that the decline in commodity prices and the Australian dollar correction offer new opportunities. "It's a double bonus for Salim Group," Taylor said.
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