News

June 06, 2008

Cambrian Mining Starts To Make Sense To Investors As It Becomes A Producer

By Our Man In The City

With the formal offer for Coal International now on the table, Cambrian Mining is gearing up for its transformation from investment house into producer. Heard this story before? That’s because Cambrian has been peddling aspirations for the same strategic shift for over three years. Chief executive Mark Burridge acknowledges the long period in which Cambrian has be trying to reposition itself, saying: “These things take a long time.” When chairman John Byrne was chief executive, it is fair to say that Cambrian kept changing its mind about the commodity of choice for the company. One minute it was coal, the next iron ore and then nickel. It wanted diversification, but investors couldn’t really work out what Cambrian stood for.

Mr Burridge had barely taken his coat off after formerly taking over as chief executive in July 2007 before initiating a review of the business, the fruits of which are now being realised. “Turning a broad statement to be an operating mining group into a plan requires significant work. You have to weigh up the alternatives and know what you really want to achieve,” he says. Coal is now the priority focus, particularly metallurgical coal as it strives to capitalise on growing demand from steel...