TORONTO - Shares of First Quantum Minerals Ltd (TSX:FM) traded...

TORONTO - Shares of First Quantum Minerals Ltd (TSX:FM) traded higher Tuesday after the company said it sold its 16 per cent stake in Equinox Minerals Ltd. (TSX:EQN).

The stock was up $3.08 at $98.21 in trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

First quantum announced the planned sale late Monday and said early Tuesday it had sold the 114.1 million shares of Equinox, an African copper miner the Vancouver company considers a non-core holding.

The company said it wants to use the C$653 million cash from the sale to develop its own projects including the Ravensthorpe nickel project in Australia, the Kevitsa nickel-copper-PGE project in Finland and the Sentinel deposit in Zambia.

First Quantum said after the close Monday it had hired RBC Capital Markets and BMO Capital Markets to help the Vancouver company sell its shares in Equinox, a copper producer with a mine in Zambia.

First Quantum had acquired its stake in Equinox over the years and some analysts had speculated the company might launch a bid for its smaller rival in a move to consolidate their operations in southern Africa.

The company is expected to report its earnings after the close of trading on Tuesday.

The average analyst estimate is for earnings of $2.10 per share on revenue of $569 million, according to Thomson Reuters.

First Quantum has operations in Zambia that include the Kansanshi open pit copper-gold mine, the Trident project, the Fishtie copper project and other assets. In Mauritania, it operates the Guelb Moghrein copper-gold mine.

Last month, the company reached a deal to acquire Antares Minerals that is expected to push the Vancouver-based company into the leading ranks of mid-tier copper producers.

The principal asset of Antares, an Ontario-based company formerly known as Planet Ventures, is the wholly-owned Haquira project in southern Peru adjacent to Xstrata Copper's Las Bambas copper-gold project.