Under the plan, first announced in February, Kazakhmys is transferring some of its older and less-profitable assets to a private company owned by two of its shareholders, hoping to improve it performance.

The London-listed miner will be renamed Kaz Minerals.

Like its peers, Kazakhmys is battling rising production costs and falling metal grades which together with weaker prices have squeezed margins.

(Reporting by Silvia Antonioli, editing by William Hardy)