Minmetals Aims to Add Copper Assets in Africa, South America

Apr.5 (Bloomberg) --Minmetals Resources Ltd. (1208), a unit of China’s biggest metals trader, wants to add copper assets in Africa and South America in the next three to five years, Executive General Manager Michael Nossel said.

"The central African copper-belt region, through DRC, Zambia, is one area and then the Great Andean minerals belt through Chile and Peru,” Nossel said in an interview in Singapore today. "These are two areas where we certainly would hope to add to our portfolio over the next five years.”

Mining companies are competing to secure assets after a dearth of new global projects and demand from China drove copper prices to a record this year. Minmetals yesterday announced a C$6.3 billion ($6.5 billion) unsolicited cash offer for Equinox Minerals Ltd. The deal, China’s biggest minerals takeover, would give Hong Kong-based Minmetals control of the Lumwana copper mine in Zambia and Saudi Arabia’s biggest copper deposit.

"Our current portfolio is overweight zinc, underweight copper,” he said. "Copper was a metal we wanted to add more to the portfolio; our strategy is diversified base metals.”

Minmetals, which owns the world’s second-biggest zinc mine and other assets in Australia, Laos and Canada, may spend $2 billion to $2.5 billion on acquisitions in the resources sector, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Michelmore said March 29.