Zijin Mining Group has offered to buy Australia’s Indophil resources for US$498 million, the Financial Times reported. The deal will give Zijin a minority stake in a project in the Philippine town of Tampakan, which holds some of Southeast Asia’s largest untapped copper and gold deposits. Indophil owns Sagittarius Mines, the Philippines-based company operating the Tampakan project. Zijin is offering US$1.19 per share, an 18% premium over Indophil’s closing price on November 26, when shares were last traded. Shareholder Switzerland-based Xstrata Copper has already agreed to sell its 19.99% stake in Indophil after abandoning its bid for a controlling stake in Indophil last year. Initial estimates are that Tampakan holds deposits of 13.5 million metric tons of copper and 15.8 million ounces of gold.
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