Source: The Financial Times                         Date: 06 April, 2011

China’s Minmetals Resources has launched a USD6.5 billion unsolicited bid for Equinox Minerals, the Australian-Canadian copper miner, in the largest-ever unsolicited takeover attempt by a Chinese mining company, at a time when China’s miners are increasingly seeking to go abroad. Minmetals’ interest is another sign of Chinese companies’ voracious appetite for raw materials, and of the scramble among miners around the world for scarce copper supplies. China accounts for about 40 per cent of global copper demand.

Minmetals Resources is a listed subsidiary of Minmetals Group, a Chinese state-owned company that is one of the country’s largest metals traders. It acquired Oz Minerals, an Australian base metals producer, for USD1.7 billion in 2009.