OZ Minerals Acquires Carrapateena Copper Project For US$250M

SYDNEY, Mar 08, 2011 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) -- Australian copper miner OZ Minerals Ltd. (OZL.AU) will spend US$250 million buying a copper-gold project in South Australia state controlled by mining prospector Rudy Gomez.

OZ estimates that the Carrapateena project could have 2.7 million to 3.3 million tons of copper, 3.6 million to 4.0 million oounces of gold, and 124 million to 138 million pounds of uranium oxide, as well as economic levels of silver and rare earths.

The deposit is 250 kilometers southeast of Prominent Hill, currently OZ Minerals' only mine, and the company said it would be able to produce at similar rates to Prominent Hill.

"This is one of the largest undeveloped copper projects in Australia today," said OZ Minerals chief executive Terry Burgess in a statement.