Chinalco Mining Plans $1 Billion Hong Kong IPO

Even as Aluminium Corp. of China Ltd.’s, or Chalco’s, deal ambitions in Mongolia have stalled, it hasn’t stopped it from braving the stock market for capital.

As Dow Jones Newswires reports Friday, Chinalco Mining Corp., a unit of state-owned Chalco, is planning to raise up to $1 billion in an initial public offering in Hong Kong. Pre-marketing will begin Monday, and the company has received regulatory approval from the stock exchange.

Chinalco Mining controls the Toromocho copper project in Peru. News of its IPO comes as the Hang Seng Index has fallen for 10 out of the last 11 sessions, erasing earlier gains to be up just 1.7% year-to-date.

Chalco’s bid to buy a controlling stake in Mongolia-focused SouthGobi Resources from Canada’s Ivanhoe Resources, meanwhile, continues to be in limbo as the country approved a law Thursday that caps future foreign investment in industries including mining. The new law requires foreign investors to obtain government review and parliamentary approval for investments at and above 49%. Analysts say the law was driven by the Chalco-SouthGobi deal. SouthGobi is about 14%-owned by sovereign-wealth fund China Investment Corp.

Another copper miner, China Nonferrous Mining Corp., which owns mines in Zambia, started taking orders from institutional investors Monday for its up to $313 million IPO in Hong Kong.