Some of the country's largest mining companies are copper producers, which means any foreign investment involving those miners would face intense scrutiny.
The Vancouver-based miner is exploring and developing the largest mineral land holdings in the area, which adjoin and surround Albemarle's Silver Peak mine.
Despite gold's price slump, strong copper and iron ore prices lifted MINING.COM's ranking of the world's 50 most valuable miners to a new record high of $1.35 trillion.