The Zinkgruvan mine in Sweden and Neves-Corvo mine in Portugal generated around 19% of its revenue last year.
Lundin Mining Corp. is considering a possible sale of two European zinc mines as the Canadian metals producer focuses on copper in Latin America, according to people familiar with the matter.
Vancouver-based Lundin is evaluating interest in its Zinkgruvan mine in Sweden and Neves-Corvo in Portugal, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. Any divestment would help raise funds for new investments in a set of copper assets in Chile and Argentina.
Deliberations are at an early stage and there is no certainty that Lundin will proceed with a sale, the people said.
The European mines, which are Lundin’s oldest assets, generated about 19% of its revenue last year. Zinkgruvan, an underground mine southwest of Stockholm that has operated continuously since 1857, produced 76,349 tons of zinc last year, according to the company. Neves-Corvo produced 108,812 tons of zinc and 33,823 tons of copper.
Meanwhile, the firm continues with projects in South America. Its Josemaría project in Argentina, a vast copper and gold deposit in the Andes, will cost about $5 billion to build a mine, according to the Royal Bank of Canada. On Tuesday, it increased its stake in one of its Chilean copper mines, Caserones, from 51% to 70% in a $350 million deal.
Changes in the company
The company has undergone a series of changes since the death of Swedish-Canadian founder Lukas Henrik Lundin in 2022. The firm moved its headquarters from Toronto to Vancouver last year, prompting a wave of leadership changes, and Lundin’s son , Jack Lundin, took over as CEO in December. The company has three copper mines already operating in South America: two in Chile and one in Brazil.
“We have a strong balance sheet today, and we are not in a position where we need to divest any of our assets in our portfolio. We are not obliged to make a sale to realize our ambitions in South America,” said Jack Lundin, who declined to comment directly on possible sales of European assets in an interview on Tuesday.
The world’s biggest mining companies are looking to expand into copper in anticipation of rising prices as demand for clean energy and data centres is forecast to outstrip supply in coming years.
Zinc prices have similarly risen this year due to mine supply constraints, although the long-term outlook is clouded by the metal’s heavy exposure to the construction sector.
Lundin has received unsolicited offers for Neves-Corvo before, including one that valued the deal at about $1 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter.
