Nyrstar NV, a leading global multi-metals company, has offered 13.5 cents per share for Australian zinc miner CBH Resources Ltd., valuing the company at A$147.8 million ($137 million).

Confirming the bid, CBH Resources said in a statement today that it is yet to decide on the bid by the Belgian metals company.

"Nyrstar NV presented the company with a conditional, confidential and incomplete proposal which could lead to a change of control transaction," CBH said in the statement.

CBH Resources has appointed Clayton Utz and RBC Capital Markets to advise it on the proposal, which is contemplated via a scheme of arrangement and includes requests for exclusivity and due diligence.

''In anticipation of the commencement of substantive discussions, RBC has completed over the Christmas and New Year period the detailed financial work required to assess the merits of the proposal and is providing recommendations to the CBH Board,'' the company said.

A takeover would move Nyrstar, a major producer of zinc and lead as well as other products (including silver, gold, and copper), a step closer in securing its own supplies of zinc ore.

CBH recently reactivated equipment idled in 2008 when zinc prices crashed that will allow it more than double production to 850,000 tonnes from its mine in central Australia starting in mid-2010.

There were speculations that the zinc miner was poised to announce a tie-up in operations with rival Perilya Ltd.; however, CBH said it had not been approached by Perilya.

Shares in CBH Resources were suspended from trading on Friday as the company has informed the Australian Securities Exchange that it had pursued confidential talks with several parties over the potential deal.

Nyrstar was formed when Belgium's Umicore merged its already-sizeable zinc smelting businesses into a joint venture with those of the former Zinifex of Australia in 2007.

On 7 December, Nyrstar had completed the acquisition of of the East-Tennessee zinc mine complex in Tennessee, US. It has combined the operations of the East-Tennessee and Gordonsville zinc mine complexes (the latter acquired by Nyrstar in May 2009) to create the Nyrstar Tennessee Mines.

At that time, Roland Junck, chief executive officer of Nyrstar, stated that ''we continue to believe that the outlook for zinc and other resources in the medium to long term is positive and will provide further opportunities for growth and, accordingly, we continue to actively explore other opportunities consistent with our strategy."

Nyrstar's other operations in Australia include the Hobart smelter, located on the western bank of the Derwent Estuary in Hobart, Tasmania, and the Port Pirie smelter located on the eastern side of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, approximately 200 kilometres north of Adelaide.

Hobart is a large-scale zinc smelter with a capacity of 260,000 tonnes, while Port Pirie has a capacity of approximately 235,000 tonnes of refined lead and lead alloys, 16 million troy ounces (500 tonnes) of refined silver, and about 45,000 tonnes of zinc.

Nyrstar also has a 50:50 lead acid battery recycling joint venture in Australia with the Sims Group, Australian Refined Alloys Pty Ltd.