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KGHM considering buying another copper deposit in Canada - CEO
Europe's second biggest copper producer, KGHM, is considering the purchase of another copper deposit in Canada; the group plans to invest $4.5bn by 2014 to boost production
Posted: Thursday , 09 Sep 2010
KRYNICA, Poland (Reuters) -
Europe's No. 2 copper producer KGHM.WA is considering buying another copper deposit in Canada as it continues to look to expand beyond its domestic production, its chief executive said on Thursday.
KGHM, which faces a threat of diminishing deposits in Poland, plans to invest 14 billion zlotys ($4.51 billion) by 2014 to boost production, also through mergers and acquisitions.
"We are interested in entering our second copper deposit in Canada. It's not the region of Canada in which we are already present and where we are preparing a deposit for exploitation," Herbert Wirth told Reuters in a brief interview.
Wirth said the target was a listed company, but the discussions were at an early stage.
Earlier this year, the state-controlled miner announced a joint venture with Abacus Mining and Exploration (AME.V) to mine Afton-Ajax copper/gold project in Kamloops, British Columbia.
The company, which pegs its 2010 production at 541,000 tonnes, eyes increasing its annual output to 700,000 tones by 2018 via purchasing deposits.
KGHM shares slipped 1 percent in early Thursday trade compared to a 0.2 percent retreat of Warsaw's main index .WIG20.
($1=3.106 Polish Zloty)
(Reporting by Wojciech Zurawski, writing by Adrian Krajewski; Editing by Hans Peters)