Economy & Business - June 2004

Brazil's biggest mining company, Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), saw its share price fall by 4% on 15 June after a leak went around the markets that it was about to buy Noranda, Canada's biggest mining company. CVRD would have to pay around US$4.7bn (Can$6.5bn) for Noranda. This deal would be one of the biggest-ever acquisitions by a Latin American company of a company based in an industrialised country. CVRD is not alone in eyeing Noranda. Anglo American, another mining company, mostly focused on gold and platinum, is also interested in Noranda.