Mega mergers ahead for mining industry

By Ignacio Badal - Analysis

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - With metal prices holding in what many call a super cycle, the global trend toward mergers and acquisitions will continue among miners, according to analysts and executives who attended the CRU/Cesco copper week in Santiago this week.

Small and medium-sized miners, and juniors who are still in the exploration stage, are the easiest targets for bigger companies, but the acquisition wave won't likely stop there, they said.

Mining analysts agree the market will soon see more huge takeover bids announced, like the failed attempt by Brazilian mining giant Vale (VALE5.SA) RIO.N to buy Xstrata (XTA.L) for more than $90 billion.

Executives say acquisitions will continue because global copper demand is growing and supplies are tight, so new supply has to be brought on line. The easiest way to do that is to buy existing producers.

Companies will be on the lookout for producing assets and smaller players won't have the same access to financing to bring new output on line.

"(Mining) costs have skyrocketed in recent years, with the subprime crisis and the disappearance of securitized debt markets ... it is increasingly difficult to finance, meaning only the best capitalized players can afford to invest," said Bart Melek, a Toronto-based analyst with BMO Capital Markets.

"We may well be entering an era of super-consolidation. We'll see what pans out during the course of the next two years," Charlie Sartain, the chief executive of Xstrata Copper, told the CRU conference on Thursday.

Words like mergers, acquisitions and takeovers were among the most heard at the CRU and Cesco copper week, where potential buyers and sellers huddled in hallways and hotel lobbies.