UK-listed Spac aims to roll up copper miners in Africa, S. America

A MINING group led by a former executive at Russia’s largest aluminium company is seeking to buy copper miners in Africa and South America, said the Financial Times.

According to the newspaper ACG – a London-listed special purpose company run by Artem Volynets – has targeted copper production of 200,000 to 300,000 tons by 2027. Volynets used to be chief of EN+ and head of strategy at Russia’s Rusal.

ACG has agreed an inaugural $290m deal for a Turkish mine described by Volynets as “the starter asset”. He told the Financial Times: “It’s deal number one and soon to be followed by others”.

The Gediktepe gold and silver mine in western Turkey is fully funded from Lidya, a subsidiary of Istanbul-based Calik Holding. Calik is a conglomerate that began in textiles and is a big supplier to clothing retailer Zara, said the newspaper.

About $220m in debt and equity has been secured from Luxembourg-based trader Traxys, an unnamed mining private equity fund, ACG’s co-sponsors, and an unnamed European family office. The company said that it was considering a further equity placement to fund more acquisitions, advised by investment bank Stifel.

Copper is vital for renewables, electric cars and artificial intelligence, with analysts forecasting a supply and demand imbalance of about five million tons by 2030, said the Financial Times.