08:28 AM EDT, 06/28/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Lundin Mining Corp. ( LUNMF ) is considering a potential sale of two European zinc mines as the Canadian metals producer turns its focus to copper in Latin America, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg News has reported.

Vancouver-based Lundin is gauging interest in its Zinkgruvan mine in Sweden and Neves-Corvo mine in Portugal, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. Any divestment would help raise funds for further investments in a suite of copper assets in Chile and Argentina, the report noted.

Deliberations are at an early stage and there's no certainty Lundin will proceed with a sale, the people said.

Bloomberg's report noted the European mines, which are Lundin's oldest assets, generated about 19% of its revenue last year. Zinkgruvan, an underground mine southwest of Stockholm that has operated continuously since 1857, churned out 76,349 tons of zinc last year, according to the company. Neves-Corvo produced 108,812 tons of zinc as well as 33,823 tons of copper.

The firm is, Bloomberg noted, meanwhile pressing ahead on projects in South America. Its Josemaria project in Argentina, a vast copper and gold deposit in the Andes, will cost about US$5 billion to build into a mine, according to Royal Bank of Canada. On Tuesday, it increased its stake in one of its Chilean copper mines, Caserones, from 51% to 70% cent in a $350 million deal.

Bloomberg also noted the company has undergone a series of changes since the death of Swedish-Canadian founder Lukas Henrik Lundin in 2022. The firm relocated its headquarters from Toronto to Vancouver last year, prompting a wave of leadership changes, and Lundin's son Jack Lundin took over as chief executive officer in December. The company owns three already-operating copper mines in South America -- two in Chile and one in Brazil.

"We have a strong balance sheet today, and we are not in a position where we need to divest out of any of our assets in our portfolio," said Jack Lundin, who declined to comment directly on potential European asset sales in a Tuesday interview.

"We're not required to make a sale to make our ambitions in South America a reality."

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