The chief executive of Swiss mining group Xstrata has suggested that an independent listing of both his company and commodities giant Glencore would be unsustainable.

"/> The chief executive of Swiss mining group Xstrata has suggested that an independent listing of both his company and commodities giant Glencore would be unsustainable.

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Xstrata boss hints at Glencore merger

The chief executive of Swiss mining group Xstrata has suggested that an independent listing of both his company and commodities giant Glencore would be unsustainable.

Published: 8 March 2011 14:42 CET

The chief executive of mining group Xstrata has suggested that an independent listing of both his company and commodities giant Glencore would be unsustainable, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.

His reported comments, which the business daily took as a hint of a possible merger, came amid persistent reports that Glencore was planning a first stock market listing in the second quarter of this year.

Both companies are Swiss based, but only Xstrata is publicly listed on the London and Swiss stock exchanges.

The FT said Xstrata chief Mick Davis had told analysts in early February that it would be “unsustainable in the longer term” for both giants to be independently listed, according to analysts present.

Industry observers believe Glencore, which holds a 34.4 percent stake in the Anglo-Swiss group, could sell its holding or seek a merger with Xstrata, the newspaper reported.

On Monday, Xstrata announced the retirement of chairman Willy Strothotte after its annual general meeting on May 4.

Strothotte is also chairman of Glencore International AG and his departure from Xstrata would avoid a potential conflict of interest between the two companies.

Recent press reports have suggested that Glencore was planning a share listing in both London and Hong Kong exchanges, with a quarter of Glencore said to be worth $12 billion.

Glencore has declined to comment on the issue.

Spain's vast supplies of untapped rare minerals pit environmentalists against high-tech

Rare earths are essential in a range of high-tech products key to combatting climate change. Photo: Christophe ARCHAMBAULT/AFP

The group of 17 minerals are — despite their name — widely distributed across the globe, but exist in such thin concentrations that extracting even small quantities requires the processing of enormous quantities of ore.

Still, they are key ingredients in a range of high-tech and cutting-edge products, from wind turbines and electric vehicles to smart phones, medical devices and missile-guidance systems.

With China having a stranglehold on global supply and demand surging to meet the transition to a low-carbon economy, the political pressure – and financial incentive – to put strategic interests ahead of the environment is growing.

“Spain has the largest amount of rare earths in Europe after Finland. There is real potential,” said Vicente Gutiérrez Peinador, president of the National Confederation of Mining and Metallurgy Companies (Confedem).

Ninety-eight percent of the rare earths used in the EU are imported from China, prompting Brussels to recently urge member states to develop their own extraction capacities.

Spain’s reserves are estimated at 70,000 tonnes, according to the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain.

“On a global level this is not much, but on a European scale it is significant,” said Roberto Martínez, head of mineral resources at the institute.

‘Opportunity for Spain’

And it is enough to arouse the interest of investors as demand for the minerals continues to surge.

“It is an opportunity for Spain,” said Confedem’s Peinador, but also “for Europe”.

“Two sites in particular are considered interesting: one in Monte Galineiro, in Galicia,” and the other in the province of Ciudad Real, in the Castilla y Leon region, said Martinez.

Only the 240-hectare (590-acre) Matamulas site in Ciudad Real has so far been the subject of an application to mine.

The site is rich in monazite — an ore containing rare earth minerals including thorium, lanthanum and cerium.

A cyclist wears a protective face mask while riding along a dusty roadv where dozens of factories processing rare earths — China has a stranglehold on global supply of rare earths — along with the environmental devastation their extraction creates Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP

However, the project has been blocked: the region refused the mining permit filed by Madrid-based Quantum Mineria in 2019 due to concerns about its environmental impact.

“This deposit is located in an area of great environmental value”, between two protected areas, said Elena Solis, coordinator for mining issues of the NGO Ecologists in Action.

It would involve “moving an astronomical amount of earth, which would put the whole area at risk”, said Solis, who also pointed to the “enormous amount of water” needed for this operation and the risk of pollution by toxic or even radioactive dust.

Holes filled in

These arguments were rejected by the company, which lodged a legal appeal.

The refusal of the permit “is incomprehensible” because “we are in a territory considered suitable for mining” by the administration, said Enrique Burkhalter, project director of Quantum Mineria, who denounced “unfounded fears” around the proposal.

According to the company, the extraction would take place on the surface, using a technique that limits the risk of toxic dust: the earth would be transported by truck to a factory, then sieved and finally returned to the site, once the minerals have been removed.

“It is not an open pit… The holes would be quickly filled in so that the crops could be cultivated again,” said Burkhalter.

These arguments are in turn rejected by Ecologists in Action, which believes that the land concerned will be permanently affected.

What will the courts say?

Beyond their differences, industrialists and environmentalists agree on the importance of the court’s decision, which could make or break the extraction projects.

The ruling, expected in several months’ time, will be “important” but “will not put an end to the debate”, said Martinez, who pointed to a paradox inherent in mining: “On paper, everyone wants to reduce external dependence, but as soon as we talk about concrete projects, it’s a different matter.”

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