Kazakhmys gets $1.5bn Chinese loan for mining
KAZAKHMYS, the world’s 10th-largest copper miner, secured a $1.5bn (£916m) loan from China yesterday to develop one of its most prospective copper fields and increase supplies of the metal to its largest market.
Kazakhmys expects to conclude the full loan agreement with state-run China Development Bank this year, allowing it to develop its Aktogay field in Kazakhstan without selling a stake in the deposit to China’s Jinchuan Group.
The loan would be disbursed at close to market rates, chief executive Oleg Novachuk said after signing a memorandum of understanding with China Development Bank vice-president Gao Jian.
“Today, Kazakhmys supplies around 60 per cent of its entire production to China,” Novachuk told reporters. “We are working on increasing our supplies to China.”
The latest loan, agreed during a visit to Kazakhstan by Chinese President Hu Jintao, complements a separate loan of $2.7bn from the China Development Bank to Kazakhmys in 2009.
The earlier loan is being used to develop a second major copper deposit, Bozshakol, plus several mid-sized projects at the company.