Nippon Mining & Metals Co. and Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., which integrated copper refining operations, will invest in a new ship to transport copper concentrate, an intermediary copper material. The companies will invest about 4.5 billion yen (US$39 million) to add a new ship in the summer of 2008.

With the vessel, the companies will increase their annual transport volume of copper concentrate and related material to 215,000 tons, which is up about 63 per cent from the present amount.

The vessel will transport copper concentrate from Chile to Japan and South Korea and will export sulphuric acid, a byproduct of copper refining, from Japan to Chile.