CHINA’S MINMETALS Resources has launched a 6.3 billion Canadian dollar bid for Equinox Minerals, the Australian-Canadian copper miner in the largest unsolicited takeover attempt by a Chinese mining company.

The Minmetals bid is conditional on Equinox dropping its own offer for Vancouver-based Lundin Mining, the owner of the Galmoy lead and zinc mine in Kilkenny.

The state-owned Chinese miner said its all-cash offer of C$7 a share – a 23 per cent premium to Friday’s closing price – was a superior alternative for Equinox shareholders to a Lundin acquisition, offering “certainty of value and timing in realising their investments”.

Minmetals’ interest in Equinox is another sign of China’s appetite for raw materials and of the competition for scarce copper. The proposed offer would be financed by cash, long-term credit facilities from Chinese banks and by Chinese equity investment. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011)