the australian article on ozmin copper chase, page-2

OZ Minerals steps up acquisition hunt

Copper miner OZ Minerals, which recently took a large stake in Sandfire Resources, continues to seek acquisition opportunities and has already made non-binding offers for projects.

Chief executive Terry Burgess says the company's business development team is "working around the clock" for potential purchases.

"We have looked at three to four projects in great detail including due diligence and in some cases we made non-binding offers," Mr Burgess told the Sydney Mining Club..

"This is against a backdrop of many, many others that we have reviewed."

He said OZ Minerals still had "quite a bit of cash in the bank for further acquisitions" after recently spending $100 million for a 19.9 per cent stake in Sandfire, which holds the DeGrussa copper discovery.

"We believe that there is good potential at DeGrussa," Mr Burgess said.

"We are content with our equity interest at this stage while we monitor the progress of the project.

"We have been asked why we didn't take over the whole company.

"While there are always strategic reasons that are difficult to go into, I liken our approach here to a marathon, or a half marathon ... not a 200 metre sprint.

"There is still drilling to do, permits to be achieved, studies to be done, not to mention construction and then of course further exploration."

Korea's POSCO holds a 17 per cent stake in Sandfire, while Korea's LS Nikko intends to take a 12.5 per cent interest in Sandfire through a placement.

Mr Burgess said the company would like to add more copper assets to its portfolio, preferably those with near term production potential, giving OZ Minerals a second operation in addition to its flagship Prominent Hill mine in South Australia.

OZ Minerals flagged its interest in small acquisitions in July last year, but a month later said it was not in a rush to do a deal.

At the time, it had $US800 million ($A892.4 million) in the bank after debt refinancing issues forced a sell-off of its assets, excluding Prominent Hill, to China Minmetals Non-ferrous Metals Co Ltd.

Mr Burgess in November said OZ Minerals had focused its search on opportunities in Australia and South East Asia.

"We are taking a long-term view. We know that not all of these projects are going to come into production immediately, but they are critical for the future of our company," he said on Thursday.

"By keeping the pipeline stocked for the next 10 to 15 to 20 years, we will be in a great position in the long-term."