Hanlong’s first overseas acquisition of public companies began in 2009, with a $200 million investment to take control of Perth-based Moly Mines Ltd. (MOL), and a commitment to procure about $500 million in funding to develop the company’s Spinifex Ridge molybdenum and copper project. Hanlong said it wanted to invest between $3 billion and $5 billion in mineral assets.
Five months later, Liu agreed to pay an initial $40 million for 12.5 percent of General Moly, the Lakewood, Colorado-based owner of two molybdenum projects in Nevada. A further $40 million investment and $665 million in funding were pledged.
The investments, had they followed through to production, would have made Hanlong among the world’s biggest suppliers of the additive used to strengthen steel.
(Source: Bloomberg)