Anglo American’s legal fight with Codelco over the Chilean mine Anglo American Sur (AAS) escalated today.

Mining giant Anglo American announced this morning that it had received a letter from Codelco, the Chilean state-owned mining corporation, stating that it still intends to purchase the maximum number of shares, believed to be 49 per cent, in AAS.

Codelco believes it is entitled to these shares under an option agreement with Anglo, though Anglo filed a legal complaint on 22 December 2011, claiming Codelco had breached this agreement.

A statement from Anglo American claimed, ‘The breach consists of Codelco's illegitimate premature attempt to exercise the option and Codelco's actions aimed at preventing Anglo American from exercising its contractual rights under the option agreement.

‘In accordance with Chilean law, as a result of Codelco's breach of the contract, it is no longer entitled to enforce the option on Anglo American and, therefore, any attempt to exercise the option is ineffective.’

Anglo American had already sold 24.5 per cent of the AAS project to Japanese conglomerate Mitsubishi on 9 November 2011 when Codelco first announced its intention to exercise its option.

Shares in Anglo American, which shed over 30 per cent in 2011, were up 3.13 per cent at 2,453.5p this morning on the back of strong Chinese purchasing managers' index (PMI) figures which indicated a small rise in manufacturing output.