Chinese mining firms interested in Australian copper and gold deposit
Post Date: 13 Apr 2010 Viewed: 535
Chinese mining companies are interested in bidding for the Carrapateena deposit, one of Australia's largest undeveloped copper and gold projects.
People close to the matter revealed that the sellers, Australia's RMG Services and Teck Australia, a unit of Canada's Teck Resources, are contacting some Chinese buyers who are expected to deliver non-binding proposals by the end of May.
The source also disclosed that some State-owned enterprises, such as Minmetals Corp, Chinalco, CITIC and China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group could be potential bidders. But none of the companies would comment on the matter.
Chinese companies have been hunting Australian resource assets for several years, as the Chinese government is keen to secure supplies of raw materials to sustain the country's economic development.
Carrapateena, which one analyst estimated could be worth around $500 million, is situated in a 1,070 square km site in South Australia. It is estimated to hold 4.4 million tons of copper, 6 million ounces of gold and 225 million pounds of uranium, as well as haematite iron ore and rare earths, according to a document given to potential buyers.
RMG and Teck hold 58 percent and 34 percent of Carrapateena respectively.