Asarco sold to Sterlite

Tucson-based Asarco has signed a deal to be sold to Sterlite Industries of India for $1.1 billion in cash and a note for $600 million, down from the original bid of $2.6 billion by Sterlite last year when copper prices were much higher.

Asarco can continue to look for a better deal until this agreement is approved by the bankruptcy court in mid April.

According to ASARCO's website, the companies domestic mines annually produce approximately 350 - 400 million pounds of copper, mostly from three open-pit mines in Arizona: the Mission, Silver Bell, and Ray mines.

"ASARCO has solvent extraction/electrowinning product at its Ray and Silver Bell mines in Arizona. ASARCO operates copper smelters in Hayden, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas, which combined produce in excess of a billion pounds of anodes annually. Operations at the El Paso smelter were suspended in February 1999. The Company’s Amarillo Copper Refinery in Texas and the SX/EW plants at the Ray and Silver Bell mines produce about 375 million pounds of refined copper per year."