FNX Mining Co., the Canadian copper and nickel producer that sells ore to Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, wants to buy stakes in miners with deposits under development or plans to reopen shuttered projects.
FNX, which began producing in 2006 by reviving nickel mines in Canada's Sudbury basin, aims to form equal-partnership ventures with companies that have similar assets, chief executive John Lill said Wednesday in an interview. The Toronto-based company may propose financing "two or three" such projects in exchange for part ownership, Mr. Lill said.
Higher prices for copper, gold and other metals are prompting producers such as FNX to expand through acquisitions. Nickel has more than doubled in the past five years amid higher demand for the stainless-steel ingredient spurred by industrialization in developing countries. Gold has more than doubled in that period, and copper has more than quadrupled as global consumption outpaces supply.
"We're very active; we're looking," Mr. Lill said. "What we're thinking is out there is late-stage projects where people have deposits they've brought along that look interesting or to take an interest in an older project that looks attractive under current conditions."
FNX started its third mine this year, producing copper and nickel ore from a deposit underneath a defunct open-pit mine previously developed by Inco Inc., which Vale purchased in 2006. The Podolsky mine will produce ore bearing 44 million pounds of copper, Mr. Lill said.
FNX fell 60 cents, or 2.6%, to $22.25 Wednesday in Toronto Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares more than doubled in the two years ending yesterday.
Lundin Mining Corp. bought more than US$2-billion worth of assets last year, giving it control of the Aguablanca nickel and copper mine in Spain and a stake in the Tenke Fungurume copper and cobalt project in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Molybdenum producer Thompson Creek Metals Co. chief executive Kevin Loughrey said in March that he's hunting acquisitions to boost output because shortages of the steel-strengthening copper byproduct may keep prices high.
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