The deal will see Zijin gain a minority stake in one of south-east Asia’s largest untapped copper and gold deposits in the southern Philippine town of Tampakan.

Indophil’s main asset is a stake in Sagittarius Mines, the Philippine-based company that operates the Tampakan project.

Indophil directors urged the company’s shareholders to accept Zijin’s offer of A$1.28 cash per share, representing an 18 per cent premium over the closing price on November 26, when the shares were last traded.

“This is an excellent outcome which unlocks value for Indophil’s shareholders from the company’s minority ownership position in the world-class Tampakan Copper-Gold Project,” said Brian Phillips, Indophil chairman, in a statement.

One shareholder, Swiss-based Xstrata Copper, has agreed to sell its 19.99 per cent stake in Indophil, according to the statement.

The Swiss company, which owns 62.5 per cent of the controlling shares in Tampakan, previously tried to acquire Indophil but abandoned its bid last year.

Peter Forrestal, Sagittarius Mines’ president, said that Zijin’s acquisition of Indophil “demonstrates the potential of the Tampakan project, which is one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in south-east Asia.”

China, the world’s biggest metal consumer, is seeking to secure commodity assets in different parts of the world to guarantee supply and strengthen its control over pricing. Several Chinese companies, including ZTE and Jinchuan Nickel Group, have had talks with Philippine authorities on mining projects in the country.

According to initial estimates, Tampakan has 13.5m tonnes of copper and 15.8m ounces of gold. Sagittarius Mines said the project would need an initial investment of $5.2bn to start its planned production of 340,000 tonnes of copper and 350,000 ounces of gold per year for at least 20 years.

Mr Forrestal said the final feasibility study is due for completion next year and first production is scheduled for 2016.

The Tampakan deposits were discovered in the early 1990s but development was hampered by legal challenges and opposition from indigenous communities, Catholic bishops, some local officials and environmental groups.

In 2005, the supreme court initially ruled that a mining law that allowed full foreign ownership of mining projects was unconstitutional but later reversed its decision. Last year, a Sagittarius Mines worker was killed when communist guerrillas attacked the remote site.