SANTIAGO, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Japan's Mitsui & Co 8031.T plans to build a desalination plant for BHP Billiton Plc's BLT.L Spence copper mine in Chile, it said on Thurday.
Mitsui is building the plant through a joint operation with Técnicas de Desalinazación de Aguas, S.A., it said in a statement.
Reuters reported on Aug. 10 that a number of other companies including a consortium of Canada's Brookfield Asset Management BAMa.TO and Spain's Acciona ANA.MC had also bid on the $800 million project, but BHP had selected the Mitsui group to go ahead with bilateral negotiations, sources said. supply the water-intensive process of copper mining without coming into conflict with local communities, miners in the world's top copper producer have increasingly looked to the Pacific Ocean for their needs.