Jinchuan grabs 11% stake in Fox Resources Email Print Normal font Large font AdvertisementMarch 31, 2008 - 9:33AM
China's top nickel refiner, Jinchuan Group, has secured government approval for its 11% stake in Australian nickel producer Fox Resources, Fox said.
Jinchuan has agreed to buy 18.8 million shares at a premium issue price of $0.95, becoming Fox's largest shareholder and deepening its investment in Australian mining as it chases access to raw materials. Fox shares ended on Friday at $0.49.
China's government has encouraged its state-owned metals and mining firms to consider foreign takeovers as a way of securing raw materials for the world's fastest-growing big economy. Nickel is used to make stainless steel.
Jinchuan bought a similar sized stake last year in nickel miner Allegiance Mining and in January agreed to pay Tyler Resources $213 million cash for Mexico's largest untapped copper-zinc deposit.
In January, Jinchuan agreed to buy all of Fox's copper and nickel concentrate output.
Fox is one of a handful of outback miners seeking to cash in on strong demand for metals driven by China's modern-day industrial revolution.
Record gold prices and bullish demand forecasts for industrial minerals are placing more mining companies in the sights of corporate predators.
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