UPDATE 3-Teck to buy Global Copper for rich Chile deposit

(Adds details from conference call, updates stocks. In U.S. dollars unless noted)

By Jonathan Spicer

TORONTO, April 14 (Reuters) - Teck Cominco Ltd (TCKb.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) will buy Global Copper Corp GLQ.TO in order to obtain the coveted Relincho copper-molybdenum deposit in Chile, and will spin off the rest of the junior miner as a new company, the two Canadian firms said on Monday.

The offer values Relincho at about $415 million, and would boost Teck's overall measured and indicated copper resources by about 25 percent.

If successful, the deal will likely accelerate a wave of small-scale takeovers as mining giants push to replace reserves while global demand for metals is strong.

"We received abundant interest from a bunch of companies about Relincho," said Global Chairman Ross Beaty.

"We've had a great run and it's time to turn the project over to a ... major mining company which can do the hard work and spend the big money to advance Relincho to production," he said on a conference call that did not include Teck management.

Under the deal, Global shareholders will receive C$12 or 0.26667 of a Teck class B subordinate voting share for each Global common share, subject to pro-ration. They will also receive one share of the new company, to be called Lumina Copper Corp.

Teck will absorb Relincho -- which contains some 876 million tonnes of copper and is located about 660 km (415 miles) north of Santiago -- while Lumina will hold all of Global's other assets, including properties in Argentina.