Anglo American: Firm behind Woodsmith project sells off nickel business

The move comes as part of a major restructuring effort from Anglo American, launched after it saw off a £39bn takeover attempt from mining giant BHP last year. Aspart of the restructure, the company has since said it intends to simplify its business to focus on copper, iron ore, and crop nutrients.

The announcement also comes ahead of Anglo American announcing its 2024 financial results on Thursday.

Duncan Wanblad, chief executive of Anglo American, said: "The sale of our nickel business after a highly competitive process marks a further important milestone towards simplifying our portfolio to create a more highly valued copper, premium iron ore, and crop nutrients business.

“Today’s agreement, together with those signed in November 2024 to sell our steelmaking coal business, is expected to generate a total of up to $5.3bn of gross cash proceeds, reflecting the high quality of our steelmaking coal and nickel businesses.”

The site for Anglo American’s Woodsmith mining project, which falls into its crop nutrients business, is located near Sneaton, south of Whitby.

The project will mine for polyhalite, a mineral which can be used as a fertiliser.

The Woodsmith mine was taken over by Anglo American in 2020, and has since become the source of much uncertainty after the company announced last year that it would “slow development” on the scheme and make substantial investment cuts.

Around 2,000 people previously worked on the project, but reports last year claimed that these numbers were set to be cut by over half.

Mr Wanblad has since said there was a “good chance” the project would reach first production by 2030 if the firm is able to meet certain criteria, including strengthening its balance sheet and finding a joint venture partner.

Anglo American also announced at the start of this month that it expects earnings in its diamond mining division to be “marginally negative” after a drop in demand in the Chinese diamond market.

The company said at the time that it was assessing the impact of the diamond market conditions, and that the lower demand was “likely” to lead to an impairment in its full year results.

Anglo American added: “We continue to assess market conditions and are currently implementing actions to further manage cash flow, spending and inventory levels in 2025.”