Cuba Open to U.S. Nickel Investors

After U.S. sanctions forced Canadian mining company Sherritt International to suspend operations at Cuba’s largest nickel mine in May, a U.S. company with close ties to Donald Trump moved to acquire a majority stake.

In an interview this week with Reuters, Cuba’s Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy said his government would continue working with Sherritt under the rules of their joint venture even if U.S. investors took control of the Canadian company.

“What the U.S. company would be buying are shares in Sherritt, not in the joint venture," he said. "The Canadian company is publicly traded, and any investor has the right to buy its shares."

The Trump administration has repeatedly targeted Cuba’s mining industry, threatening foreign companies with “secondary sanctions” for doing business with the country, while the oil blockade has cut off much of the fuel needed to keep operations running.

Days after Sherritt suspended its operations in Cuba, Dallas-based Gillon Capital, whose vice chairman Ray Washburne is a longtime Trump ally and former administration official, announced a preliminary agreement to acquire a majority stake in Sherritt.

The proposed deal required U.S. government approval, which does not appear to have been granted.

Gillon's 120-day exclusivity agreement with Sherritt expired on October 12 with no final deal publicly announced. A rival consortium, including commodities giant Glencore and an unidentified U.S. investor, has also expressed interest in acquiring a majority stake in Sherritt.

Whoever takes control of Sherritt would face the same raft of U.S. sanctions that have ground Cuban nickel operations to a halt.