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Newmont Mining Corp, Teck Resources, private equity firm Blackstone Group and Magris Resources – a company led by former Barrick ceo Aaron Regent – are discussing a partnership to make a bid for Glencore Xstrata's $5.9 billion Las Bambas copper project in Peru, according to local media.

The project is currently under construction and is set to produce at least 400,000 tpy of copper in its first five years. Its life span is estimated at over 20 years. Commissioning is expected to start at the end of 2014, with production ramp-up in 2015, the company has announced.

Glencore Xstrata formally fired the starting gun on the $4bn-$5bn disposal of its Las Bambas copper mine in Peru on Tuesday, announcing the appointment of two investment banks to advise on the sale.

Speculation has centred on two Chinese firms – Chinalco Mining Corp, a subsidiary of China's state-run aluminum group, and Hong Kong-listed MMG – who may be weighing rival bids for the three Las Bambas open pits which will also produce significant quantities of gold, silver and molybdenum as by-product.

Sunday’s deal comes almost a year after Glencore bought Xstrata, the mining group that started to develop the mine. Chinese competition authorities required Glencore to try to sell Las Bambas as a condition of approving the Xstrata merger – meaning it was always seen as probable that the mine would be bought by a Chinese group.