China Minmetals near US$5b deal to acquire Glencore copper mine in Peru

A group led by China Minmetals is nearing an agreement to purchase Glencore Xstrata's Las Bambas copper project in Peru for more than US$5 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

A deal between Minmetals, China's biggest state-owned metals trader, and Switzerland-based commodities producer and marketer Glencore could be announced as early as this month, subject to Beijing's approval, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process is private. The asset could fetch closer to US$6 billion, one of the people said.

The Chinese group includes Citic Metal, a unit of state-controlled conglomerate Citic Group, and China Reform Holding, an investment company backed by the country's state assets regulator, the people said.

Glencore is selling Las Bambas as part of an agreement to win Chinese regulatory authorisation for its US$29 billion takeover of Anglo-Swiss coal and metals miner Xstrata last year.

China is the world's biggest copper consumer, accounting for around 44 per cent of the world's copper consumption.

The mainland imported around 61 per cent of its unrefined copper ore needs last year, according to a Barclays research report.