In the first of what may be several bidding wars on separate Chilean mining projects, Codelco is reviewing nine submissions on the giant El Abra project.
The first to be made public was the bid by Lac Minerals (TSE), which has joined with Cyprus Minerals of the U.S. in a bid to acquire 51% of El Abra. Among the companies bidding singly for the project are Inco (TSE), Placer Dome (TSE), Cambior (TSE), Phelps Dodge and RTZ.
Other companies bidding in competing consortia include: Cominco (TSE) and Teck (TSE); Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP) and Magma Copper; and North Broken Hill Peko and Chile’s Sociedad Minera Pedahuel y Cia.
El Abra, situated 1,000 miles north of Santiago, is huge. The estimated reserve is 500 million tonnes grading 1% copper in an oxidized zone and another 600 million tonnes of sulphide material.
The project is at the pre-feasibility stage. A Lac spokesman said a production decision would likely envision a plant producing 120,000 tonnes of copper metal yearly. The oxide material is amenable to heap-leaching and solvent extraction-electrowinning. This would make it among the world’s lowest-cost copper producers.
Beyond El Abra, there are other big properties held by Codelco which await outside money for development.
“Codelco has a good stable of large properties,” a spokesman for a Canadian bidder said.
Asset sales aren’t restricted to Chile, however. To the north, Peru is in the midst of “privatizing” its big Centromin mining and smelting company.
Be the first to comment on "Lac among several bidding on Chile project"