Sojitz, Furukawa, Dowa Holdings to Get Canada Copper Mine Interest

Sojitz, Furukawa and Dowa Holdings announced on Tuesday they agreed with Canadian copper mining company, Taseko Mines to acquire 25% interest in operating copper mine, Gibraltar for C$ 187 million. They utilize the copper concentrate at Japanese copper smelting joint venture of Furukawa and Dowa Holdings.

The mine, which is located in 600 kilometers north of William Lake and owned by Taseko Mines, has 472 million tonnes of reserve and produced around 115,000 tonnes of concentrate or around 30,000 tonnes of copper in 2009. The mine is under expansion to increase the output to around 180,000 tonnes in concentrate or around 50,000 tonnes in copper in 2010. The mine will supply 45,000 tonnes of concentrate to Japan. The mine also produces annual 635 tonnes of molybdenum.

Sojitz, Furukawa and Dowa Holdings establish their joint investment company, Cariboo Copper Corp. to get the interest in the Canadian mine. Sojitz has 50% in Cariboo Copper Corp. with 25% each interest by Furukawa and Dowa Holdings.