SHANGHAI: After a four-day trading suspension, Yunnan Copper Co Ltd, the nation's third largest copper producer, said yesterday it would privately place 300 million new shares to raise about 6 billion yuan and use the money to expand production, purchase parent assets, and repay bank loans.

The Shenzhen-listed copper maker said in a statement the new issue would target no more than 10 investors, at a price of 20.59 yuan or higher per share.

Yunnan Copper, based in Kunming, revealed that of the total 6 billion yuan it expected to raise, 2.37 billion yuan would be used to buy five copper-related units from its parent company Yunnan Copper Industry Group (YCIG), 1.4 billion yuan to fund the Hongshan project to augment copper ore supply, and another 1 billion yuan to increase the company's liquidity.