The Australian reported that China has upped its bets on Australia's resources, even as low prices of zinc and gold take the gloss off the sector.

Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Nonfemet is offering to buy out minority investors of Perilya in a deal that values the Australian mining company at AUD 269.3 million. China’s No. 3 zinc producer already owns 53.4% of Perilya which operates base and precious metal mines in Australia and the Dominican Republic.

The company said that it wanted to buy the rest of the stock for 35 cents a share. The offer represents a 59% premium to the stock’s closing price on August 30, when Perilya’s shares entered a trading halt on Australia’s stock exchange. It also represents a 109 per cent premium to the its volume weighted average price over the past three months.

Despite the drop in metals prices, a series of deals during the past year indicate that Australian metal mines continue to draw strong interest from Chinese buyers. Rio Tinto recently agreed to sell its majority stake in Australian copper and gold mine Northparkes to China Molybdenum for USD 820 million.

China Hanking Holdings earlier this year signed a deal to buy St Barbara’s Southern Cross gold mining operations in Western Australia. And last year, Shandong Gold Group said it would take a majority stake in Perth based gold producer Focus Minerals while a subsidiary of Zijin Mining Group also took control of Perth based Norton Gold Fields.

Mr Paul Arndt MD of Perilya said that “Zhongjin’s proposal is priced at a level that represents an opportunity for Perilya shareholders to realize an attractive premium for their investment in a challenging global economic environment epitomized by weak base and precious metal prices and a high Australian dollar against the US dollar.”