Polish copper miner KGHM Polska Miedz SA (KGH.WA) has exercised an option to increase its stake in Canadian joint venture KGHM Ajax Mining Inc., a planned copper and gold mine, to 80% from 51%, the company said in a statement Monday.

KGHM said it paid joint-venture partner Abacus Mining & Exploration Corp. (AME.V) $29.9 million to increase its stake.

By exercising the option, KGHM has committed itself to organizing the project's financing, which is $795 million according to a bank feasibility study published in December.

The planned mine, located near the city of Kamloops in British Columbia, is expected to start production in 2015.

-By Marynia Kruk, Dow Jones Newswires; +48 22 447-2431; marynia.kruk@dowjones.com