Pan Pacific Copper Co Ltd, Japan's top copper smelter, is looking at potential mine sites in Chile and Peru as candidates for its next exploration project, the head of the company said on Thursday. Eiji Kato, who took over at the firm in April, said Pan Pacific was in a relatively advanced stage of its study.
"We are thinking of one or two mines that will be able to supply us with concentrate," Kato told Reuters in an interview, though he did not name any sites. It is crucial for Pan Pacific to increase its own supply of copper concentrate if it is to meet its goal of procuring 50 percent of its raw material needs from its own mines in the next five to 10 years, up from the current 16 percent.
Kato said the company was looking at mines that could produce 50,000 to 100,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate a year. Pan Pacific is a joint venture between Nippon Mining & Metals Co Ltd, which has a 66 percent stake, and Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co Ltd, which holds the remaining 34 percent. Nippon Mining & Metals is part of the Nippon Mining Holdings Group.
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