Vedanta Interested in Buying Stake in Its Namibian Zinc Mine, Exxaro Says

Vedanta Resourgold concentrator for saleces Plc, the metals producer controlled by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal, has expressed an interest in buying Exxaro Resources Ltd.’s Rosh Pinah zinc mine in Namibia, according to Riaan Smit, Exxaro’s commercial manager of growth projects.

“We’ve had talks with them, but we’re not in negotiations with them,” said Smit, who’s in charge of Exxaro’s planned asset sales. “It’s all informal. They haven’t visited our mines. At this stage we’re talking to many people.” Exxaro, based in Pretoria, plans to sell its zinc assets, including the Zincor refinery in South Africa, its 50 percent stake in Rosh Pinah, and a 26 percent stake in Black Mountain Mining Pty Ltd., a zinc and lead miner. It would be “preferable” if all the zinc assets were sold together, Smit said by phone from Pretoria today. “We could be in the position soon where we could entertain offers,” he said. Smit declined to say what the stake in Rosh Pinah is valued at.