Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- China Elegance Holdings Ltd., whose shares have risen more than 50-fold this year, will pay HK$4.68 billion ($599.6 million) in new stock for a controlling stake in a company with rights to explore for copper in Chile.

The Hong Kong-based company will buy 60 percent of Bellavista Holding Group Ltd., it said yesterday in a stock- exchange filing. The stake in Bellavista Holding will be acquired from Ceasers Development Ltd., a company controlled by China Elegance executives, according to the filing. The new stock will be issued at HK$3.60, a 2.2 percent discount to the last traded price on Aug. 7.

Chile is the world's largest supplier of the metal used to make pipes and wires. The price of copper, which touched a record last year on surging demand, has more than doubled in two years, prompting companies to step up exploration.

Bellavista has rights to explore for the metal through its ownership of TCA Exploration SA, China Elegance said. TCA, which has one permanent exploration concession and a further 17 applications for concessions, ``is prepared to proceed with the exploration and exploitation of mineral resources in the near future,'' China Elegance's statement said.

China Elegance, which had been suspended in Hong Kong since Aug. 8, resumed trade today, gaining as much as 22 percent and declining as much as 23 percent. The stock ended at HK$3.30, 10 percent lower than the close on Aug. 7. It settled at 5 Hong Kong cents on Jan. 2.

Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange, the world's largest such bourse, traded 0.2 percent higher at $7,385 a ton at 5:47 p.m. in Hong Kong. The metal touched a record $8,800 a ton on May 11, 2006.

To contact the reporter on this story: Heather Walsh in Santiago at hlwalsh@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 30, 2007 06:14 EDT