Oz Minerals on the look out for more copper opportunities By:...

Oz Minerals on the look out for more copper opportunities

By: Esmarie Swanepoel
18th May 2011

PERTH (miningweekly.com) - Australian copper miner Oz Minerals on Wednesday told shareholders that it would continue to seek out copper acquisition opportunities, after wrapping up the A$250-million acquisition of the Carrapateena project.

In his address to shareholders at the annual general meeting, chairperson Neil Hamilton noted that Oz Minerals was continuing to work on its business development options that would enable the company to acquire new assets and operations.

?It is an ongoing and thorough process, and we recognise that we need to continue to show discipline at a time of high commodity prices and intense competition for quality assets.?

However, Hamilton said that the company was in no way ?relaxing? its quest for value adding copper acquisition opportunities, or investing in its organic growth through exploration.

The Carrapateena project comprises four exploration licences, covering 1 070 km2 in central South Australia, and is situated relatively close to the Adelaide-Darwin railway, through which Prominent Hill concentrates are currently transported.

The project has the potential to produce between 50 000 t/y and 150 000 t/y of copper.

CEO Terry Burgess told shareholders on Wednesday that the acquisition of the Carrapateena project made sense to Oz Minerals for a number of reasons, the first of which was that was a high-quality resource.

?We have already been able to report an initial resource of 203-million tons, at 1,3% copper and 0,5 g/t gold for the southern part of the deposit,? said Burgess.

He noted that the Carrapateena project was a good strategic fit for Oz Minerals, and was located around 250 km from the Prominent Hill project.

?This project meets all the parameters that we clearly laid out in the company?s strategy that was defined in November 2009, in terms of commodity, location, scale and life,? Burgess said.

The stated strategy remained in place, said Burgess, with the company seeking copper projects which could produce between 50 000 t/y and 150 000 t/y of copper concentrate, for a ?meaningful? mine life, located in low- to medium-risk jurisdictions.

?We would like to add another operation to the business. Having a quality asset like Prominent Hill has many advantages, bur from a risk perspective it would be preferable to have another operation or something at the feasibility stage. We are busy looking at these opportunities.?

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