Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco), the country’s top aluminium producer, is looking to list its Peruvian copper mining assets in Hong Kong in a deal that could raise up to $1 billion, IFR reported on Saturday.

The IPO is expected to hit the market in the first half of 2012 and would test investor appetite for early-stage mining assets that will only turn profitable in 2014, the Thomson Reuters publication reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

BNP Paribas, CICC and Morgan Stanley have been mandated by Chinalco to arrange the transaction, IFR added.

The new listed unit’s main asset is the Toromocho copper mine in Peru that is on track to start mining in 2013. The mine is forecast to produce the equivalent of 250,000 tonnes of fine copper a year, and also small amounts of silver and molybdenum.
Chinalco already has a unit, Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (Chalco) , that is listed in Hong Kong and Shanghai.