(Yicai) Dec. 5 -- Shares of CMOC Group fell after China's largest molybdenum producer unveiled plans to sell its whole stake in an Australian copper-gold mine for USD756 million.

CMOC [SHA: 603993] closed down 4.45 percent at CNY4.94 (70 US cents) in Shanghai today.

CMOC's subsidiary CMOC Mining and its unit CMOC Metals will sell their 80 percent stake in the Northparkes copper-gold mine for a total of USD756 million to Australian-listed firm Evolution Mining, the Luoyang-based parent firm announced yesterday. CMOC Mining is the operator of the Northparkes mine.

The sale of the mine is expected to bring CMOC a one-off accounting net profit of over USD200 million, the company noted.

The net profit and capacities the Northparkes mine brings to CMOC are increasingly smaller, the firm said, adding that selling the mine will enable CMOC to focus further on its development priorities and reduce its assets-to-liability ratio.

CMOC acquired the assets of the Northparkes copper-gold mine for USD820 million at the end of 2013, becoming the largest overseas acquisition by a Chinese firm that year.

CMOC Mining reported a net profit of USD16.2 million and revenue of USD190 million in the first 10 months of the year. As of Oct. 31, it had net assets of USD416 million.

CMOC is the world's biggest cobalt producer and second-largest niobium producer. In the first three quarters of the year, it raked in CNY2.4 billion (USD338.6 million) in net profit, down 54 percent from a year earlier, and CNY131.7 billion (USD18.6 billion) in revenue, down 0.6 percent in the period.

Editor: Futura Costaglione