BHP Delays Development of Molybdenum Plant in Chile (Update1) Email | Print | A A A
By Heather Walsh
Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, will delay the development of a plant to process molybdenum at a Chilean mine.
BHP made the decision after a decline in the price of molybdenum, used to strengthen steel, said Mauro Valdes, the company’s spokesman in Santiago.
“It’s because of the market circumstances,” he said today in a telephone interview.
Companies are shelving projects planned before a global economic slump eroded demand for metals. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer, will postpone the reopening of a molybdenum mine in the U.S. and cut production at another facility after demand declined.
Melbourne-based BHP hadn’t yet approved the investment in the plant at its Escondida copper mine in Chile. The facility would cost $120 million to $150 million to build, Valdes said. BHP owns 57.5 percent of Escondida, while Rio Tinto Group owns 30 percent and a group led by Mitsubishi Corp. owns 10 percent. International Finance Corp. owns the remainder.
Molybdenum will trade between $10 and $20 a pound in November and December, down from $25.40 in October, the Chilean Copper Commission, a state-run research group, said this week. Molybdenum is a byproduct of copper mining in Chile.
To contact the reporter on this story: Heather Walsh in Santiago at [email protected].
Last Updated: November 27, 2008 11:52 EST
MOL Price at posting:
25.5¢ Sentiment: None Disclosure: Not Held
