GFG Alliance, the parent company of the international industrial and metals group Liberty House, has announced that its SIMEC Mining division has signed a binding agreement to acquire Glencore’s high-quality Tahmoor metallurgical coking coal mine in New South Wales, Australia. Completion of the transaction is subject to customary conditions and is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2018.
The acquisition of the Tahmoor mine is a key element in GFG Alliance’s transformation plan for its flagship Liberty OneSteel Whyalla Steelworks in South Australia that is designed to optimize and expand production, thereby securing its long-term sustainability.
According to GFG Allaince, the Tahmoor mine, which has a workforce of 340, is a coking coal mining operation situated around 75 km south west of Sydney. Annual production is currently around 2 million mt per year, the bulk of which is high-quality coking coal used for primary steel making in blast furnaces both in Australia and internationally. The Tahmoor mine is an important supplier of coking coal to the Whyalla Steelworks.
Commenting on the acquisition, Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of GFG Alliance, said, “Through this purchase we secure and de-risk an important feed for the Whyalla Steelworks. This, together with our iron ore mines in South Australia, now makes GFG the only fully-integrated Australian steel producer, whether from iron ore and coking coal to primary steel, or from scrap metal and renewable energy to GREENSTEEL."