OZ Minerals says a $150 million copper concentrate treatment plant at Whyalla in regional South Australia could create about 100 jobs during two years of construction and 100 ongoing jobs once it is operational.
The Adelaide-based resources company has applied to the South Australian Government for major project status, which can fast-track approvals.
OZ Minerals also has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with steelmaker Arrium to share its port and other facilities at Whyalla.
OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Cole told shareholders the company's studies showed that building a standalone processing facility near a port was a better option than building one at its mine site.
"We get cheaper access to rail, to port, to roads, to power, to water, gas and oxygen plants and of course we have a much wider pool of people to draw on," he said.
Whyalla has been facing uncertainty about the future for many local jobs since Arrium, its biggest employer, went into administration a month ago.
OZ Minerals, formed when Oxiana and Zinifex merged in 2008, has two major copper assets in South Australia, the Carrapateena project near Port Augusta and Prominent Hill near Coober Pedy, from which it shed 100 workers earlier in the year.
Source: OZ Minerals promising hundreds of jobs from Whyalla investment
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