More than 20 companies are hoping to grab one of Peru’s hottest copper assets, as the country readies to auction off the rights to develop it in December, authorities said Monday.
The $2 billion Michiquillay copper project, located in the country’s northern Cajamarca region, was originally scheduled to be auctioned off next month, but state bidding agency Proinversión decided to push back the date so that interested companies have more time to submit offers, it said in a statement (in Spanish).
Companies have until Nov. 2 to sign up for the auction. A contract for the project, said the agency, will be awarded on Dec. 20.
Michiquillay, projected to process close to 80,000 tonnes of copper ore a day, used to belong to Anglo American (LON:AAL), but the mining giant pulled out of the project in late 2014 due to capital constraints.
Milpo, controlled by Brazil’s Votorantim Metals, later evaluated the project. But the miner withdrew from Michiquillay in March this year after Proinversión asked Milpo to modify its proposal for the mine’s development. At the time, the company said the proposed revisions were not compatible with market conditions.
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