Mining giant Glencore is reportedly looking to sell Vasilkovskoye gold mine in Kazakhstan, as part of its efforts to trim its $26bn debt.

Glencore mining

Glencore owns around 70% stake in the gold mine which could be worth over $2bn.

The company has already roped in Deutsche Bank and BMO Capital Markets as advisers for the deal, Reuters reported.

The Switzerland-based mining company is considering to sell its assets amid a plunge in commodity prices and falling demand for raw materials in the world’s second largest economy China.

Chinese mining firms are expected to evince interest in buying Glencore’s gold mine following a sharp rebound in the metal’s prices in recent months, sources told the Financial Times.

"There’s a very small field of buyers. None of the Western groups will touch it because it’s based in Kazakhstan," a source told Reuters.

The annual gold output of Vasilkovskoye is estimated at around 350,000 ounces.

In April, Glencore sold a smaller gold mine Komarovskoye in Kazakhstan to Polymetal International for $100m. The gold mine was owned by its subsidiary Kazzinc. The deal is expected to be completed in 2016.

The company reduced the production of zinc, copper, lead, oil, and coal in the first quarter due to slump in prices.

"The proactive production cuts announced and auctioned in 2015 led to period on period production reductions in copper, zinc, lead, coal and oil, reflecting our disciplined approach to supply at low points in the commodity cycle," Glencore said in a statement.

Glencore reported a 28% reduction in Zinc production to 257,100 tons for the first quarter this year, as a result of output cuts announced in Peru, Australia, and Kazakhstan.

While its copper production was down 4% to 335,000 tons in the quarter on year-over-year basis, coal output fell 17% to 29.7 million tons.

Last month, Glencore agreed to sell a 40% stake in its agricultural business to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) for $2.5bn. The transaction valued its agri-business at $6.25bn.


Image: Glencore has majority stake in Kazzinc which has interest in 6 mines including zinc, lead and copper as well as gold and silver. Photo courtesy of Glencore 2005 – 2016.