Chinese firm agrees to buy Peru copper mine

State-owned metals trader China Minmetals led a group that agreed to buy the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru from European multinational mining firm Glencore Xstrata (GLEN:LON) for US$5.58 billion, Bloomberg reported, citing a Glencore statement on Monday. The acquisition gives the group, which includes Melbourne-based MMG (1208:HKG), control of a mine that is forecast to produce 400,000 metric tons of copper a year from 2015, equivalent to 12.5% of 2013 imports of copper metal by China, the world’s biggest buyer. The sale also satisfies the final condition by Chinese regulators for Glencore’s US$29 billion takeover of Xstrata.