Inmet's Cobre Panama Copper Project

Copper miner Inmet Mining Corp is cautiously reviewing a renewed, $5.1-billion takeover bid for the company by rival First Quantum Minerals Ltd. First Quantum said it was now offering $72 per Inmet share, half in cash, half in stock. Although a hefty sum, this is not Quantum’s first offer. At a slightly lower bid, Quantum offered Inmet $4.9 billion in stock and cash at $62.50 per share at the end of last month.  Combining the two companies is said to result positively on the copper industry and the panama project, however no comment has been released by Inmet at this time.

At the end of last week, Inmet announced a 27-per-cent increase in reserves at its massive Cobre Panama copper project in Central America. The Toronto-based miner said late Thursday it has raised copper reserves at Cobre Panama to some 26 billion pounds. It also said it boosted gold reserves by 41 per cent, to some 7.3 million ounces.  By this increase, Inmet has now extended the estimated mine life at the project in Panama from 31 years to 40 years.

So what does this mean for the large miner? Well, they have their hands on one of the world’s largest copper projects in development. It also proves that copper demand around the world will remain strong into the future even if growth has slowed in other major markets.

This particular project will produce some 300,000 tonnes of copper per year, worth about $1.1-billion (U.S) at current prices. These numbers put the production parallel with giant mines in Chile and Peru.

Should you be interested in Inmet’s Panama Copper project please send your inquiries to recruit@teamcronos.com