…by starting off with a big fortune and moving into copper. If we consider:
1) 2012 Minsur paid U$505m for 70% of Marcobre SAC, the owner company of the Mina Justa copper project.
2) Then in 2016 it paid U$85m for the other 30% of the company and project ($60m cash, then 5 annual payments of $5m)
3) And now it’s selling 40% of Marcobre to Chile’s Copec for U$168m.
So even if we assume Minsur has spent zero on exploration, development and feasibility at Mina Justa all this time (which is silly, they’ve paid millions), they’re already U$68m down on the deal. The issue is, of course, how to fund the approx U$1.6Bn capex bill coming up as from 4q18 when this thing is supposed to go into construction. Now they have friends to cover 40% of the upfront, they might just do it.