Published: August 19, 2025 |

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Anglo American released a statement after Peabody Energy terminated its agreements to acquire Anglo American’s steelmaking coal business in Australia.

Anglo American said it continues to focus on and make good progress towards the safe restart of Moranbah North and firmly believes that the event that occurred in March 2025 at the mine, which forms part of Anglo American’s steelmaking coal business, does not constitute a material adverse change (MAC) under the definitive agreements with Peabody. Anglo said this belief is reinforced by the lack of damage to the mine or equipment and the clear progress being made within the rigorous and structured regulatory process towards restarting the mine.

Duncan Wanblad, CEO of Anglo American released the following statement:

“We are confident in our belief that the event at Moranbah North in March does not constitute a MAC under the sale agreements with Peabody. Our view is supported by the lack of damage to the mine and equipment, as well as the substantial progress made with the regulator, our employees and the unions, and other stakeholders as part of the regulatory process towards a safe restart of the mine. In fact, just in the last week we achieved a further important milestone, with our workforce signing off the risk assessment that underpins the restart strategy. We are therefore very disappointed that Peabody has decided not to complete the transaction.

Despite our strongly held view, we believe that it would have been better for all parties to avoid a legal dispute. On that basis we have invested significant effort and shown great flexibility over recent months to find a solution for Peabody, including proposing amended terms and technical options. Following Peabody’s decision not to proceed with the transaction, we continue to focus on the safe restart of Moranbah North and in delivering value from the entirety of our SMC portfolio. We continue to reserve our rights under the definitive agreements, we are confident in our legal position and will shortly initiate an arbitration to seek damages for wrongful termination.

We held a very competitive process to sell this high-quality parcel of steelmaking coal assets in 2024 and the unsolicited inbound interest expressed to us in recent months is testament to the strategic value of these assets and the attractive long-term market fundamentals. We are confident that we will successfully conclude an alternative sales process for value in due course.”

Anglo American is a leading global mining company and its products are the essential ingredients in almost every aspect of modern life. Their portfolio of world-class competitive operations, with a broad range of future development options, provides many of the future-enabling metals and minerals for a cleaner, greener, more sustainable world and that meet the fast growing every day demands of billions of consumers. With people at the heart of their business, they use innovative practices and the latest technologies to discover new resources and to mine, process, move, and market products to their customers — safely and sustainably. As a responsible producer of diamonds (through De Beers), copper, platinum group metals, premium quality iron ore and metallurgical coal for steelmaking, and nickel — with crop nutrients in development — they are committed to being carbon neutral across operations by 2040. More broadly, their Sustainable Mining Plan commits them to a series of stretching goals to ensure they work towards a healthy environment, creating thriving communities, and building trust as a corporate leader. They work together with business partners and diverse stakeholders to unlock enduring value from precious natural resources for the benefit of the communities and countries in which they operate.

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