Ann: JV Negotiations, Funding and Tasmanian Proje, page-14

re: Ann: JV Negotiations, Funding and Tasmani... Hi all

I don't hold but am considering. Sorry if this has been posted but it i from pacificwinner on the ozl thread:

Cashed-up Oz Minerals eager to buy
Sarah-Jane Tasker From: The Australian April 16, 2010

OZ Minerals remains on the acquisition trail, showing interest in copper remains strong despite recent corporate activity in coal and gold.

Releasing the Prominent Hill miner's quarterly report yesterday, chief executive Terry Burgess said despite the flurry of merger and acquisition activity, and rising commodity prices, opportunities remained.

"There are small companies that don't want to take operations into production, and there are larger companies looking at their portfolios," he said.

The takeover focus has been on the gold and coal sectors, with Newcrest Mining making a $9.2 billion play for Lihir Gold, which was rejected, and a range of suitors circling Macarthur Coal.

"There is no reason copper should be any different from the gold or coal sector with regard to corporate activity," Mr Burgess said. "It's certainly a commodity we believe has a buoyant future, and we are obviously looking at different people and I'm sure different people are looking at us, as is the norm in the industry."

The market has been waiting for Oz to make a corporate move, as it sits on about $1.5bn in cash after China Minmetals bought the rest of its assets last year to keep the company afloat.

Deutsche analyst Paul Young said Oz remains a strong defensive base metal play in the copper sector, due to its strong balance sheet and low cash costs.

"Over the near term, the focus will be on potential project JVs and/or acquisitions," he said.

Mr Burgess said the miner was not going to be pressured into rushing to do a deal. "Our business development team continues to be busy and there are opportunities out there," he said.

In its quarter one report, Oz said copper production was 31,909 tonnes, with the processing plant at Prominent Hill in South Australia operating 15 per cent above nameplate capacity.

Gold output for the quarter came in ahead of market expectations at 1572 ounces as the miner treated higher-than-expected grades of gold ore.

Mr Burgess said Oz had boosted its forecast average annual gold production for 2010-2012 to 110,00-120,000 ounces.

The miner's shares jumped on the strong result, ending the day 4.1 per cent higher at $1.27.

Mr Burgess said Oz had resumed selling copper concentrate to BHP Billiton's Olympic Dam operation, and was selling more than 10 per cent of its output to the mining major. "We have increased the amount of concentrate shipments there for the foreseeable future."


PGamble