Reuters reported that Marubeni Corporation and Chilean partner Antofagasta Plc have spent USD 350 million on a new copper mine in Chile to develop higher quality copper ore. The mine is due to start operations in 2012.

Marubeni said that copper output at the 2 firms' existing JV Minera El Tesoro owned 70% by Antofagasta and the rest by Marubeni will remain unchanged at 100,000 tonnes per year due to constraints on production capacity. It said that when the new Mirador mine starts producing 80,000 tonnes of copper in 2012, the 2 firms plan to suspend operations at older mines.

Marubeni joined Antofagasta's 2 copper projects, Esperanza and El Tesoro located in the Sierra Gorda district of northern Chile in 2008 spending a total of USD 1.9 billion. Marubeni took 30% stake in each of the projects.

It said that the area is a key focus for Antofagasta with huge mineral resources. With the acquisition, Marubeni's equity holdings in copper projects will rise to 125,000 tonnes in the year to March 2012.

(Sourced from Reuters)