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(Recasts with comments from CEO)
By Praveen Menon
Aug 26 (Reuters) - Australian miner OZ Minerals Ltd said on Friday it has a "lot more value to create" than accepting a $5.8 billion BHP Group takeover offer, as it looks to more than double its copper output to support green energy.
The copper-nickel miner, which rebuffed BHP's A$25 a share offer earlier this month, said a global decarbonisation and electrification push is set to drive significant demand for its core metals.
"The world is on the cusp of a significant deficit of key modern minerals at a time when demand will rapidly intensify," Chief Executive Andrew Cole said in a call after its half-year results.
"Our next growth phase offers options to more than double copper equivalent production from circa 140,000 tonnes at present to over 340,000 tonnes per year," Cole said.
Demand is rising for copper - used in wind turbines, solar power systems and electric cables - as well as nickel and lithium that are used in electric vehicle batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), prompting BHP's interest in OZ as it looks to shift into the clean energy and EV markets.
OZ Mineral's board said BHP's bid, which was pitched at a 32% premium to OZ's last close, was "opportunistic" as copper prices had dropped off peaks and it did not fully value its assets given the global green energy push.
"In a sector that is rapidly growing ... we have got a lot more value to create in this company than selling at $25 a share," Cole said on Friday.
BHP has not said if it will raise its bid, but analysts and bankers have said it will have to pay more to be successful.
OZ Minerals reported net profit of A$109.2 million ($76.0 million) for the six months to June 30, down more than half from A$268.6 million a year ago, hurt by a labour crunch, interruptions related to weather and equipment shortages, and higher exploration costs.
Net revenue sank about 8% to A$908.6 million due to a lower sales volume and a 4% drop in the realised copper price. ($1 = 1.4362 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Praveen Menon and Shashwat Awasthi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Richard Pullin)