PPC Gains Share of Regalito Copper Deposit in Chile

Nippon Mining & Metals and Mitsui Mining & Smelting announced on Tuesday that Pan Pacific Copper (PPC), their joint venture for copper production business, would gain the share of Regalito copper deposit in Chile. PPC and Regalito Copper Corporation, which owns the deposit, agreed that PPC would purchase whole interests of Regalito Copper by takeover bid of about US$ 137 million.PPC plans to build the integrated copper production system from ore to ingot at Regalito by means of solvent extraction and electro winning (SX/EW) processing method. PPC will start the production of electrolytic copper in 2011 and perform yearly 100,000-150,000 tonnes of output by 2029.