MELBOURNE, June 7 (Reuters) - Australian mid-tier copper miner Oz Minerals Ltd OZL.AX is confident its A$444 million ($340.02 million) cash-and-share bid for Brazilian explorer Avanco Resources Ltd AVB.AX will pass when the offer closes next week, the miner's chief executive said on Thursday.
The cash-and-scrip offer, which was extended in late May, is expected to close on June 14. Avanco's shareholders include global miner trader Glencore . GLEN.L
"I think the bid has been going very well. It's steady and trickling in so I am confident it will close," Andrew Cole told reporters on the sidelines of the Melbourne Mining Club.
"With management options, we are 46.7 percent in favour of the shareholder offer." The deal would need to get 50 percent of shareholder backing to pass.
The deal, which has been in the works for the past three years, offers chunky exploration potential because Avanco owns the greatest landholding in the copper-rich Carajas region, second only to mining major Vale VALE3.SA , Cole said.
"Today, they are a very small producer. We are not interested in Avanco for the copper they are producing today. We are interested for the copper they could produce with the resources they have got and the exploration upside in that district," he said.
($1 = 1.3058 Australian dollars)