Anglo American confirms discussions for partnership on Brazilian mine

The company said it is in talks with Vale over a potential tie-up on the latter’s Serpentina project in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil.

Anglo American confirms talks with Brazilian rival (Anglo American/PA)

Mining giant Anglo American has confirmed it is in talks with Brazilian rival Vale over a potential partnership at its Serpentina project in the country.

UK-based Anglo American said preliminary discussions are ongoing over the potential to jointly develop Vale’s Serpentina iron ore resource, which is next to its own Minas-Rio iron ore operation in Brazil.

The company added: “These discussions are preliminary in nature and there can be no certainty that any agreement will be reached or, if any agreement is reached, on the terms or scope of any such agreement.”

Vale said the potential deal could leverage Anglo’s “processing and logistics infrastructure” from Minas-Rio, which includes a mine, a transport pipeline and a port in Rio de Janeiro state.

The Serpentina project is made up of mining rights in three municipalities in Minas Gerais state, to the east of the country.

Last month Anglo agreed to invest 800 million dollars (£596 million) through to 2025 to improve pipeline, technology, civil works and future expansions on the site which was first bought by the company in 2008.

Anglo American’s iron ore production in the three months to September 30 jumped by 15%, including a 22% rise at Minas-Rio to 6,099,500 tonnes.

The site is made up of a 529km long pellet feed-transporting slurry pipeline and the mine is expected to reach a capacity of 26.5 million tonnes by 2022, the company said previously.