Global miner BHP Billiton Ltd
(ASX:BHP) has approved its share of the capital expenditure required to expand mining and processing capacity at the Antamina copper and zinc mine in northern Peru.
BHP holds a 33.75% interest in Antamina, the same as Xstrata with Teck Resources holding a 22.5% stake and Mitsubishi Corp a 10% holding.
In a statement to the market BHP says all four partners have approved their respective shares of the project’s US$1.288 billion capital budget, BHP’s share is US$434.7 million.
The expansion will increase the site’s ore processing capacity by 38% to 130,000 tonnes per day. BHP posted profit of $7.2 billion for the 2009 financial year.
