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Bechtel and Xstrata Copper Form Long-Term Strategic Partnership for Project Development

Posted on: Wednesday, 5 December 2007, 15:00 CST

Xstrata Copper has selected Bechtel as its long-term strategic partner to facilitate the development of Xstrata Copper's pipeline of copper projects.

The agreement covers the provision by Bechtel of engineering, procurement, construction and construction management services in relation to a series of potential copper mines, concentrators and related mineral processing facilities. Future work on Antapaccay and Las Bambas in Peru and El Pachon in Argentina will be undertaken under this alliance, and additional projects will be added as appropriate.

The strategic alliance also involves the innovative concept of designing a replicable copper concentrator and other facilities that could be applied to Xstrata Copper's individual projects. This will enable the early ordering of long lead time items and reduce the engineering time and costs on individual projects. It will also provide construction efficiencies.

"We are very excited about working with Bechtel to develop this innovative approach to project development which will maximize Xstrata's copper production cost effectively in the shortest possible time," said Charlie Sartain, CEO of Xstrata Copper. "We have selected Bechtel to be our long-term partner based on their leadership in the copper industry as well as their track record of developing high tonnage copper projects, safely, in a sustainable fashion, on time and on budget anywhere in the world."

"We look forward to a long-term, successful relationship," said Andrew Greig, President of Bechtel Mining & Metals. "Working with a world class company like Xstrata to develop a replicable copper concentrator design for their portfolio of projects has the potential to fundamentally change the way projects are delivered in the copper industry. We are very pleased to be Xstrata's strategic partner, not just for the challenge of delivering multiple projects globally, but because we share values with Xstrata relating to safety, sustainability, and ethics."

ABOUT BECHTEL

Bechtel is one of the world's premier engineering, construction, and project management companies. Since its founding in 1898, Bechtel has worked on more than 22,000 projects in 140 countries on all seven continents. Today 40,000 employees are teamed with customers, partners, and suppliers on hundreds of projects in nearly 50 countries. For more information about Bechtel, visit www.bechtel.com.

ABOUT XSTRATA COPPER

Headquartered in Brisbane, Xstrata Copper is one of the commodity business units within the major global diversified mining group Xstrata plc. Its operations and projects span eight countries: Australia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Canada, the USA, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea. Its operations are administered by five separate divisions, based close to the mining operations, namely the North Queensland, Alumbrera, North Chile, Southern Peru and Canada divisions. It also has a recycling business (Xstrata Recycling) with plants in the United States and offices in Canada and Asia.

Xstrata Copper is the fourth largest global copper producer with annual managed production of over one million tonnes.

 For more information on Bechtel, contact:  Francis Canavan Media Relations Manager Bechtel Corporation (415) 728-2832 Email Contact  For more information on Xstrata Copper, contact:  Emily Russell Manager Corporate Communications and Media Relations (+56) 2-478-2204 Email Contact

SOURCE: Bechtel

Source: MARKET WIRE

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