Anglo American is eyeing the sale of a 49 per cent stake in a huge fertiliser mine being built under the North York Moors National Park.
The FTSE 100 company bought the Woodsmith project from its former owner Sirius Minerals in 2020 for £405million.
It has already spent £2billion developing the £7billion scheme.
But chief executive Duncan Wanblad told City analysts that the company was moving ‘at pace to find a partner’ for the mine, the Times reported.
It is understood to have begun work internally to identify potential investors before launching a formal sale. Shares in the group rose 5.5 per cent, or 510p, to 1,980p, following the report.
Stake: Anglo American bought the Woodsmith project from Sirius Minerals in 2020 for £405m. It has already spent £2bn developing the £7bn scheme
The move to sell a stake in Woodsmith comes as Anglo is scrambling to cut costs across the entire company after a drop in commodity prices and production difficulties hit earnings.
Selling a chunk of the Woodsmith mine would save cash and spread development costs, which have spiralled since Anglo took on the project and produced its own estimates.
The former Sirius team had struggled to raise enough cash to fund Woodsmith, which involves building two mile-deep shafts and constructing a tunnel that would be longer than the Channel Tunnel to take the fertiliser from the main site near Whitby to Teesside for processing.
Anglo is thought to be considering approaching sovereign wealth funds and investors in major infrastructure projects.
It has previously said it would consider taking a partner.
The company is due to make a final investment decision over Woodsmith in early 2025 and is keen to line up shareholders who could take a stake at around the same time, the Times said.
Anglo is one of the world’s biggest mining companies and produces metals ranging from gold and copper to platinum and iron ore.
Moving into fertiliser is part of longer-term plans to invest in green materials.
The company also owns the world’s biggest diamond company, De Beers.
The Mail on Sunday revealed this week that Anglo is under- stood to be planning to slash jobs at De Beers. Anglo declined to comment.
