Australia's Altona weighs sale of Roseby copper project, merger

MELBOURNE, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Australia's Altona Mining is considering selling its Roseby copper project or seeking a merger among a range of options after Xstrata decided not to buy into the copper project in Queensland state, its chief said on Monday.

"We are starting a process essentially to look at a strategic transaction, meaning is there a party who then takes equity in the project and helps finance, potentially also considering selling the entire project," Altona Managing Director Alistair Cowden told Reuters by phone.

"Everything's always for sale," he said, adding that the company would consider merging with another company with a stronger balance sheet for the project.