JBIC to Provide $245 Million Loan for Mine Expansion (Update1)

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Japan Bank for International Cooperation, a unit of government-owned Japan Finance Corp., signed a contract to provide a $245 million loan for a copper mine expansion project in Chile.

Copper-concentrate output by the Los Pelambres mine, owned by Antofagasta Plc, is expected to rise by 370,000 metric tons annually after expansion in the first quarter of this year, the Japanese bank said in a statement today. Of the increased amount, 180,000 tons will be shipped to Japan, it said.

Japan is the biggest importer of copper concentrate, after China. The world's second-largest economy is increasing spending to secure overseas raw materials as it competes with China and India. China's economic growth accelerated to the fastest pace since 2007 in the fourth quarter.

"The loan will help Japanese companies secure stable raw material supplies," the bank said.

Japan's Nippon Mining & Metals Co., a unit of Nippon Mining Holdings Inc., Mitsubishi Materials Corp., Marubeni Corp., Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co. own 40 percent of the Los Pelambres mine.