By Nathan Richardson

January 3, 2018 - Diversified natural resources company Glencore has agreed to sell its Tahmoor underground metallurgical coal mine in New South Wales, Australia, to SIMEC Mining, the mining division of GFG Alliance, Glencore said Tuesday.

Glencore did not provide the terms of the deal but the transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2018.

The transaction is subject to approval by the New South Wales Government. The company had begun the sale process for the mine in May last year.

"Our Tahmoor mine is an established, stable operation but has minimal operational synergies with the rest of our NSW coal business located in the Hunter Region," the company had said at the time.

In 2016, the mine produced nearly 1.8 million mt of saleable metallurgical coal. It has 57 million mt of reserves along with efficient logistics and transport system and established, long-term relationships with customers across Asia, Glencore had noted last year.

Glencore's Australian coal assets portfolio has undergone several changes in recent years.

It sold its subsidiary which operated the Abbot Point Coal Terminal in Queensland and its GRail coal haulage business in New South Wales, while it acquired full control of the Newlands and Collinsville mines in Queensland from Japanese partners Itochu (35%) and Sumisho (10%).

Last year, it agreed to acquire a 49% interest in Yancoal's Hunter Valley Operations coal mine and form a joint venture following Yancoal's acquisition of Coal & Allied from Rio Tinto.

In November, the company announced that it was expecting to name a preferred bidder for a binding transaction in the first half of 2018 for its 17 million mt/year Queensland-based Rolleston thermal coal mine.

In total, Glencore has 13 coal mining complexes across Australia -- with 17 operational mines across New South Wales and Queensland -- making it one of the country's largest coal producers. Its 2016 production stood at nearly 93 million mt of thermal and coking coal, predominantly for export.

Currently, SIMEC Mining owns and operates a 10 million mt/year iron ore mine in South Australia.