South Korea's LS-Nikko Copper Inc and state-run Korea Resources Corporation have discovered 400 million tonnes of copper resources in Peru, Seoul's energy ministry said on Wednesday.
The two firms would jointly develop a copper mine with Canadian miner Chariot Resources Ltd and production was expected to start in 2009, the ministry said in a statement.
The copper was discovered near Peru's south coast and would yield an estimated 50,000 tonnes of copper concentrate and 43,000 tonnes of copper cathode annually for 15 years, the ministry said.
The three companies signed a contract last year to develop the mine and have invested a combined $252.2 million.
Chariot bought the Marcona site from Rio Tinto, the world's No 2 miner, and Shougang Hierro Peru for $43.5 million in 2004. Under the contract, the two Korean companies would each hold a 15 percent stake in the venture with Chariot holding the remainder.
LS-Nikko, South Korea's only copper producer, would take up to 90 percent of the copper concentrate produced at the Marcona project when mining began, the ministry said in the statement.
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