Mick Davis, the former boss of miner Xstrata, has made an offer for Anglo American assets including copper mines in Chile, Brazilian nickel mines and some coal operations, the Sunday Times reported without citing sources.

Davis, who led Xstrata until its takeover by Glencore, has built up a war chest of up to $4.8 billion to build his new venture, X2 Resources, into a mid-sized diversified mining and metals company.

Anglo American's Chief Executive, Mark Cutifani, aims to turn around the miner with technical improvements and a plan to sell some under-performing assets. A report last month said he wanted to sell some copper mines in Chile by the end of the year.

The Sunday Times said Davis was thought to have tabled a proposal that included the copper mines as well as other operations.

Davis, whose deal-making at the helm of Xstrata transformed the sector, set up X2 months after leaving following the acquisition by Glencore last year.

Both Anglo American and X2 declined to comment.