Shanxi Donghui Energy Group unit Chinova Resources is planning to divest its copper-gold operations in Australia, reported Reuters.

The company is anticipating signing a potential sale deal this year. The sale process is being handled by adviser BurnVoir Corporate Finance.

Chinova currently owns mining operations in Queensland. These include the Osborne copper gold processing plant and Mount Elliot mine, as well as infrastructure such as an airport, roads, a power plant and several development sites.

The Mount Elliott mine is said to be one of the largest copper-gold, mineralised systems discovered in Australia.

BurnVoir executive director Theo Tsihlis was quoted by the news agency as saying: “The Chinova package has had good interest from large, established, international miners as well as ASX-listed junior to mid-cap mining companies looking for a relatively large acquisition to propel them onto the radar of institutional investors.”

Tsihlis commented that Chinova’s proposed sale has drawn interest from several multinational private equity groups.

Tsihlis added: “We would be expecting that it (an offer) would be north of A$300m ($194.4m). We would like to conclude it this year."

As of December 2022, Chinova owned a 100% stake in the resource authority holdings in the Cloncurry region of north-west Queensland comprising 32 granted mining leases.

These leases are held by Chinova’s wholly owned subsidiaries, Chinova Resources Cloncurry Mines and Chinova Resources Osborne.

In 2013, Shanxi purchased the Ivanhoe Australia group of companies that owned the mining operations at Osborne and Starra 276, including infrastructure at Mount Dore Camp and Merlin plus the associated Osborne and Selwyn resource authority holdings.

After the acquisition, the group took the name of Chinova.