Australian copper mining company, OZ Minerals Thursday said it’s currently keen on undertaking investment purchases and will consider opportunities for acquisitions. The company said it will carry on with its acquisitions strategy and had already gone into non-obligatory offers for various projects.

Terry Burgess, OZ Minerals chief executive said the company’s strategy for development is targeted at working towards the acquisition of potential projects, reiterating that the company had, as it is, considered three to four prospective projects and had even done due diligence in some projects while in others, it had gone into non-binding agreements.

According to Burgess, this considered projects form a part of numerous others the company has already pondered in great detail, saying that OZ Minerals is keen on bolstering its copper assets portfolio and advance its operations, particularly in copper assets that have near term production potential.

As such, OZ Minerals has added a second major copper operation on top of its other operation based in Prominent Hill Mine in the South of Australia. The Australian copper miner had earlier indicated its interest in acquisitions in 2009 but did not close any deal immediately, reiterating that it would take its time before making a purchase move.

When it made the announcement in 2009, OZ Minerals had US$800 million in its accounts after debt refinancing concerns led it to dispose off its assets, with the exception of the Prominent Hill Mine to the Chinese firm, China Minmetals Non-ferrous Metals Co Ltd. But in September 2009, the chief executive had said the Australian firm had its eyes focused on investments in the country and South East Asia.

Speaking further over the acquisition plans, Burgess said the company was considering the long term approach to these investments given the fact that most of the potential projects for acquisition will not become productive immediately. However, Burgess noted that the acquisitions are crucial for the future growth and development of OZ Minerals, reiterating the need for the firm to keep its pipeline stocked for the coming 10 to 15 years as a crucial step in maintaining a great position in the market in the long run.

Burgess said the company had sufficient cash reserves for the planned acquisitions even after it spent US$100 million for a 19.9% stake in Sandfire Resources, owner of the Western Australia DeGrussa copper find. He further added that the DeGrussa purchase has great potential for the company and the company is currently monitoring its equity interest over the projects progress.

30 July 2010.