UAE’s Mubadala and Trafigura complete sale of MATSA mining operation in Spain

UAE’s Mubadala Investment Company have completed the sale of 100 per cent stake of Spanish mining operation Minas de Aguas Teñidas (MATSA) to the Australian mining and exploration company Sandfire Resources.

MATSA owns and operates two mines in the municipality of Almonaster La Real and one mine in the province of Huelva, Andalucia.

The company’s processing plant has the capacity to process more than 4.4 million tonnes of copper and polymetallic ore per year.

Mubadala had previously acquired a 50 per cent stake in MATSA from Trafigura in 2015. Mubadala said that the latest sale aligns with its “mandate to recycle capital to maximise returns to its shareholders.”

“MATSA is one of the world’s highest quality copper mines, with a highly skilled and productive workforce. Our concentrated efforts over the past six years have helped to fully realise the potential of this asset by significantly upgrading its standards of technological innovation, increasing its productive capacity and greatly improving its sustainability standards,” said Danny Dweik, head of Industrials at Mubadala.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez recently visited Expo 2020 Dubai where he met with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

The leaders discussed bilateral relations between the UAE and Spain and prospects of enhancing cooperation in various fields, especially business and investment. There are over reportedly over 200 Spanish companies operating across various sectors in the UAE and volume of trade between the two countries has exceeded more than Dhs7.7bn.

The two sides signed several agreements and MoUs to enhance cooperation in areas including industry, technology, climate change, education, health and information security.

Another MoU between the Spanish Government and Mubadala Investment was signed by Homaid Al Shimmari, deputy group CEO and chief corporate and human capital officer at Mubadala Investment Company.