Batchfire is a privately owned Australian company, based in Brisbane. Its directors are chairman Terry O’Reilly, Edek Choros, Stephen Lonie and Richard Barker, all of whom have considerable coal industry experience.
The acquisition is on a walk-out, walk-in basis meaning Callide will continue to operate uninterrupted, Batchfire CEO Peter Westerhuis said.
“Callide is a mature and significant sized producing coal mine that is fully supported by an experienced workforce, first class logistics and export infrastructure,” he said.
“The mine has an established customer base with long-term off-take agreements. A priority for Batchfire will be to establish constructive, mutually beneficial relationships with CS Energy and Callide Power Management, important customers and operators of the Callide B and Callide C Power Stations.
“We also look forward to engaging with the Callide workforce, contractors, suppliers and the broader community to ensure stability of the mine during the transition and as Batchfire establishes its reputation as a safe, reliable and cost-effective supplier of energy products to customers in a difficult market.”
Last December Anglo American CEO Mark Cutifani said that globally, the company would slash 85,000 jobs, get rid of its dividend and seek to hive off unprofitable assets as part of a restructure designed to shore up its balance sheet in the current mining downturn.
Completion of the Callide acquisition remains subject to certain conditions precedent and it is expected these will be satisfied, and the sale consummated, in April 2016.
The transaction will be effected via a sale of shares in the subsidiary companies holding Anglo American's interest in Callide. The transaction remains subject to several conditions precedent, and its terms are confidential.
Callide consists of an open pit thermal coal mine and associated processing infrastructure that produced 7.6 million tonnes of coal in 2014.
It produced 5.6Mt in the first nine months of 2015, the majority of which was sold to two adjacent power stations under long term contracts.
