Privately held U.S. coal miner Drummond Co is considering the sale of its Colombian operations and has hired Bank of America Merrill Lynch to advise on the process, sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
The sale could be worth more than $5 billion, one source said, and could generate interest from diversified global miners including Vale, BHP Billiton, Xstrata, Glencore, Rio Tinto and Teck Resources.
Drummond is the second largest coal exporter in Colombia, which ranks fifth in coal exporting countries globally. Its assets there include open pit coal mine Mina Pribbenow, a deepwater ocean port on the Caribbean Sea, and coal transportation and handling facilities.
The company shipped 21.7 million tons of Colombian coal in 2009, according to its website.
Bank of America declined to comment. Drummond could not be reached in Alabama or Colombia. (Michael Erman / Reuters)