XSTRATA could hold the key to some of the most valuable parts of...

XSTRATA could hold the key to some of the most valuable parts of CopperCo's enlarged portfolio after the Queensland miner completed a merger with mining investment house Minerals Securities last week.

CopperCo, under its new chairman, Robert Champion de Crespigny, now owns an 18 per cent stake in Toronto-listed Platmin and a 25 per cent stake in the Lady Loretta zinc project in Queensland.

Before the merger, CopperCo was producing copper cathode from its Lady Annie project near Mount Isa, which it will expand to 30,000 tonnes of annual capacity by the middle of next year.

CopperCo has long had a solid relationship with Xstrata and sells the cathode to the Anglo-Swiss miner's major shareholder, the Swiss commodities trader Glencore.

The high-grade Lady Loretta zinc project, which neighbours CopperCo's Lady Annie tenements, is operated by Xstrata.

Xstrata has yet to make a decision on when the project will proceed. The low zinc price could influence approval of the development, which has the potential to produce 140,000 tonnes of zinc a year.

In the case of Platmin - the largest investment in the MinSec portfolio - Xstrata is attempting a $US10 billion ($12.3 billion) takeover bid of London-listed miner Lonmin. Lonmin holds a 22 per cent stake in Platmin, and Xstrata might be interested in future consolidation of the industry if its Lonmin bid is successful.

CopperCo's managing director, Brian Rear, said his company had not yet held any talks with Xstrata about the potential future of Platmin.

CopperCo's previous aim was to increase the stake if possible, and if not, to consider selling at a high price. Platmin's deputy chairman, Keith Liddell, will serve as the head of precious metals for the newly merged CopperCo-MinSec.

Mr Rear said CopperCo - set to be renamed at a meeting in late November - had a positive medium to long-term view on the outlook for platinum, despite recent fluctuations in its price.

Platmin's initial project is a rare open-cut platinum mine in South Africa, which Mr Rear said was a "good, high-margin business".

The market value of the combined CopperCo-MinSec has halved since they announced the merger deal in January, despite CopperCo meeting all of its production and budget targets at Lady Annie.

"It's very frustrating when you are trying to build a company and the fundamentals don't mean anything," Mr Rear said. "You wouldn't be human if the conditions in the market didn't affect your mentality."

Mr Rear said CopperCo remained on the lookout for opportunities - although not Perilya's Mount Oxide copper project, which is for sale near Lady Annie - to create "critical mass" in commodities and geographical locations with appeal.