MELBOURNE, July 29 (Reuters) - Global miner BHP Group ( BHP )

and Canada-listed Lundin Mining ( LUNMF ) will jointly

take over developer Filo Corp ( FLMMF ) for C$4.5 billion ($3.25

billion), the companies said on Monday, as they move to progress

the South American projects.

BHP and Lundin will form a 50/50 joint venture to hold both

the Filo ( FLMMF ) del Sol and Josemaria projects around the

Argentine-Chile border.

BHP and Lundin have offered C$33 per Filo ( FLMMF ) share, reflecting

a 12.2% premium to the Canadian copper miner's last close on

Monday. Under the deal, BHP is expected to pay a total of $2.1

billion in cash.

Reuters reported on July 12 that Lundin and BHP were

weighing a joint bid.

The deal comes as miners race to build out their pipelines

of copper, a metal whose use is expected to underpin the energy

transition.

The world's biggest miners are increasingly preferring to

buy instead of building assets to grow, given rising costs for

developing new mines and a blow-out in time lines for regulatory

approvals.

BHP in May walked away from a blockbuster $49 billion bid to

take over Anglo American which rejected three proposed

offers from its bigger rival over the course of six weeks.

($1 = 1.3854 Canadian dollars)