The diversified miner and commodities trader previously denied the Sydney Morning Herald exclusive on June 27 that it paid zero corporate tax over the past three years despite income of $A15 billion for the period.

In its initial rebuke Glencore said it paid $8 billion in royalties and taxes in Australia over the last seven years.

In an internal email on Thursday, which has circulated wildly since, Freyberg clarified that the corporate income tax of this figure was $2 billion.

“Our royalty payments represent approximately half of the combined figure, with a variety of other taxes, such as employer payroll taxes and stamp duty, making up the rest,” he wrote.

Freyberg said profitability was significantly lower during the coal downturn period of the past three years than in the preceding four years.

“The reality is that a significant proportion of Australia's coal mines are currently operating at a loss and although we run an efficient business, we are not immune to the market conditions,” he said.

“Despite these difficult circumstances, we paid more than $400 million in corporate income tax in respect of this period.”

Freyberg said the SMH-related reports also contained other factual errors.

“In the days ahead, we will be following up directly with the newspaper to address the inaccuracies reported,” he revealed.

Notably, Freyberg did not mention the SMH’s assertion that Glencore had borrowed billions from “associates overseas” at high interest rates of 9%.

“As it was claiming tax breaks in Australia on these inflated interest payments, the secretive [Switzerland]-based multinational actually increased its lending to other related parties interest free,” the newspaper claimed in its Glencore piece on June 27.

The Sydney newspaper had since referred to its Glencore tax evasion claims in a report that the federal government was aiming to “recoup billions by closing loopholes that are exploited by multinational companies to shift profits and losses across international borders to minimise their tax bills”.

Due to confidentiality provisions, the Australian Tax Office is unable to comment on any entity’s specific tax affairs.

“The ATO takes all matters of alleged tax evasion or avoidance seriously,” a spokeswoman said.

“When provided with any information that alleges or suggests potential tax evasion or avoidance, we consider it, assess the risks and take action where appropriate.”