Brazil’s MMX Sells Chile Assets to Cooper Mining

Brazil’s MMX Mineração e Metalicos, part of Brazilian magnate Eike Batista’s conglomerate, said it had agreed to sell its Chilean unit to Inversiones Cooper Mining.

The iron-ore mining company made the announcement in a filing Friday with the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.

Without mentioning specific figures, it said the Brazilian company would receive royalties for every ton of iron ore sold by Minera MMX de Chile, which henceforth will be controlled by Cooper Mining.

The sale is part of a restructuring plan by Batista’s EBX Group conglomerate, which is facing severe financial woes and has divested numerous assets in a bid to get its house in order.

MMX suspended its projects in Chile in March, citing a reduced profit outlook.

The company’s investments in Chile had centered on iron-ore mines in the country’s northern region and amounted to $224 million at the time the projects were halted.

Batista, once the world’s seventh-wealthiest person, has seen his net worth plunge recently due to a sharp drop in the share price of his publicly listed companies, a turn of events triggered by a crisis in credibility surrounding EBX and disappointing results at that group’s OGX oil and gas unit.

Prior to the full-blown crisis at EBX, Forbes magazine said Batista’s net worth had fallen to $10.6 billion in December 2012 from $19.4 billion at the end of the previous year.

Published in Latino Daily News