Serbia: Zijin prepares bid for Freeport McMoRan – Chinese want to buy US part of mine near Bor?

Chinese company Zijin, owner of the upstream zone of the future Chukaru Peki Copper and Gold underground site, has prepared an offer to buy off part of it from American company Freeport McMoRan.

The plan of the Chinese company Zijin, which is also a strategic partner of RTB Bor, is to invest almost half a billion dollars in the beginning of exploitation of the upper part of the Chukaru Peki deposit near Bor, where reserves of one million tons of copper and close to 70 tons of gold have been set up, making the company an easier part of the job.

The reason is simple – the Chinese are the sole owners of the upper zone of the Chukaru Peki deposit, which in geological circles is called the “beast” because of its excellent concentration of copper and gold. However, Zijin will have a far more difficult job when it comes to exploiting the lower part of that bearing. According to preliminary estimates, it covers reserves of 15 million tonnes of copper and as much as 300 tonnes of gold, with the majority of the exploration rights being held by Freeport McMoRan, the American mining corporation, with a 60% share.

Admittedly, according to a contract, if the bottom of the Chukaru Peki was exploited, which is a billion-dollar investment, Zijin would gain 46, with the Americans remaining 54% ownership. So the Chinese have two options- either to enter into a strategic partnership agreement with Freeport McMoRan, or to try to buy off a stake in the world’s richest copper and gold deposit.

Source: ekapija.com