Antofagasta, Minmetals in talks over Esperanza project JV
London-listed mining company Antofagasta PLC and China's Minmetals Nonferrous Metals Co. are negotiating the Chinese company's participation in the northern Chile Esperanza copper project, Diario Financiero newspaper reported Wednesday.
"We are talking to Minmetals to become partners in an important mining deposit," Andronico Luksic, a member of the Chilean family that controls Antofagasta, told the newspaper.
A mining industry source told the newspaper that in addition to Minmetals, several Japanese mining companies such as Nippon Mining & Metals Co. and Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. are also interested in investing in the project.
Esperanza will require a $1.5 billion investment and aims to produce around 200,000 metric tons of copper a year, as well as silver and gold.
When on line in 2010, the project will increase Antofagasta copper output by about 40%.
The Chilean miner earlier this year had said it would likely seek a partner to develop the project.
Minmetals currently has the option to acquire a 25% stake in state-owned copper giant Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile's, or Codelco's Gabriela Mistral project.
Gaby, as the Codelco project is also known, will come on line in March and is expected to produce between 150,000 and 165,000 tons of copper a year. |
