IGO sells New Century stake

IGO purchased an 18.4 per cent stake in New Century with a $27 million investment earlier this year.

New Century stated it would continue to advance its operations at the Century zinc mine in Queensland, as well as the potential acquisition of a 95 per cent interest in the Goro nickel-cobalt mine in New Caledonia.

The company is finalising negotiations regarding the proposed acquisition with Vale and the French state to sign a binding agreement for the transaction.

“New Century continues to receive strong interest and offers for potential future offtake from Goro and note that IGO also still maintain an interest and active dialogue with the company on offtake,” New Century stated in an ASX announcement.

The company expects to release an update on the Goro acquisition next week.

New Century also anticipates continued tailwinds within the zinc sector, with demand expected to improve off the back of strong post-COVID-19 consumption in China, which consumes around 50 per cent of the world’s zinc.

“Zinc supply continues to remain challenged as a result of ongoing difficulties in the movement of human resources to-and-from mining operations in COVID-19 effected countries,” New Century stated.

“Approximately 28 per cent of global zinc production occurs within countries that occupy the current top 10 total COVID-19 cases.”