Pinto Valley copper mine may be for sale

BHP Billiton may put the Pinto Valley copper mine up for sale, according to a report from Financial Times.   The paper says BHP is shedding smaller, lower-priority assets.   The Pinto Valley mine is described as having a limited mine life with "uncertainty as to whether it will return to full production."   The paper says production capacity is about 60,000 tonnes of copper per year and suggests the mine might fetch less than $1 billion.   BHP announced in February that the mine would be hiring 650 and resuming operation by the end of 2012 as a result of a $195 million reinvestment in the facility [right, Pinto Valley mine].