Mitsui & Co. Ltd. entered an agreement to acquire JX Nippon Mining & Metals Corp.'s 3.60% equity share in the Collahuasi copper mine in Chile, taking its ownership to 11.03%.

Meanwhile, the company agreed to sell its entire 1.25% equity share in the Los Pelambres copper mine, 0.79% to JX Nippon and 0.46% to Marubeni Corp., as part of its strategic asset recycling.

No deal values were provided for the sale and purchase agreements in the Feb. 16 release.

Following the transactions, Mitsui's equity copper production volume is expected to increase by about 15,000 tonnes per year on top of about 125,000 tonnes in the year ended March 2017.

Anglo American Plc and Glencore Plc own a 44% stake each in Collahuasi, while 12% is held by Japan Collahuasi Resources. Mitsui's shareholding in JCR will increase to 91.9% from 61.9% following the purchase.

The Los Pelambres mine is owned 60% by Antofagasta Plc, 25% by Nippon LP Resources, and 15% by the Mitsubishi consortium. Mitsui will divest its entire 5% shareholding in Nippon LP following the sale completion.

Mitsui also recently moved to acquire Australian oil and gas producer AWE Ltd. with a A$594 million off-market takeover bid.