Singaporean money flows to Canadian miners

The investment arm of the government of Singapore, Temasek Holdings, is starting to make its presence felt in Canadian mining circles.

The notoriously secretive investment company has closed a $500 million placement in Inmet Mining (IMN-T), a Canadian mining company producing copper, zinc and gold, and has also purchased US$50 million worth of shares in Platmin (PPN-T, PPN-L), which holds platinum group metal assets in South Africa.

Inmet Mining says it will use the proceeds to develop its 100%-owned Cobre Panama project and for general corporate purposes. Cobre Panama is a large open-pit copper development project, 120 km west of Panama City and 20 km from the Caribbean coast.

In addition to Cobre Panama, Inmet Mining has interests in Caveli, Las Cruces, Pyhasalmi, Troilus and Ok Tedi.

Platmin’s principal focus is its Pilanesberg platinum mine, which is advancing to full production.

In addition, the company holds platinum interests on the eastern limb of the Bushveld Complex. Platmin’s long-term goal is to become a significant producer of PGMs.

Temasek is an active shareholder and investor in everything from banking and financial services, to real estate, transportation and logistics, infrastructure, telecommunications and media, bioscience and healthcare, education, engineering and technology, and energy and resources.