Perilya considers copper project sale

Perth-based Perilya Ltd is considering its options over the Mount Oxide project as higher copper prices push the project onto the radar of several overseas and local companies.

The company said it had received a number of expressions of interest into the project, either through a joint venture or the outright purchase of the project.

The board said it had yet to make a final decision but an outcome regarding the Queensland project will be made this quarter.

"It is a strategically located resource with high potential for the development of an open cut or underground operation, which could be brought on-stream in a relatively short time frame," Perilya executive chairman Patrick O'Connor said.

The project has a copper resource of 203,000 tonnes with the deposit amenable to either open cut or underground mining.

The price of spot copper last traded on the London Metals Exchange at $US8184 per tonne, up 0.7 per cent from the previous trading day, while three-month delivery was up 0.71 per cent at $US7956/t.