DEALTALK-Money for mining: Banks still hungover from crisis

* Banks unlikely to offer finance to greenfield projects

* Confidence lacking despite metals price recovery

* Likely to do deals only with well-established players (For more Reuters DEALTALKs, click [DEALTALK/])

By Rujun Shen and Joseph Chaney

TIANJIN, China, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Looking for capital to finance a greenfield mining project without a proven track record? Good luck with the big banks.

Major lenders are as reluctant as ever to offer project financing to the industry's lesser known players, as a risk-aversion hangover lingers from the financial crisis -- even though base metals prices have rallied in recent months.

"Bankers have been more picky on project financing," Alberto Migliucci, head of mining, oil and gas, South East Asia at Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX), told the China Mining conference on Tuesday.

"Basically anything to do with exploration or long-term development has been most impacted," he added. "Any new project -- let's say zinc mines that would start first production in 2-3 years time -- will suffer."

China has driven the metals price rally, fuelled by government money channelled to its stimulus plans, direct state stockpiling and a huge loosening of credit.

Metals markets are widely forecast to continue to rebound from weak demand levels last year when the financial crisis decimated global industrial activity.

Copper MCU3 for three-month delivery on the London Metals Exchange hit $6,570 a tonne on Tuesday, its highest in more than a year, lifted by a weakening dollar and prospects for a global economic recovery.

And next year, analysts are tipping iron ore price increases of up to 15 percent as steelmakers ramp up operations and seek more ore. Both small and large miners are searching for funds to expand and to cash in on the rebound.

Fortescue Metals (FMG.AX) failed to secure $6 billion in proposed financing from China to more than double annual output to 95 million tonnes by tapping new mines deeper in the Pilbara.

Banks are not willing to return to their old ways, and will most likely only offer project financing to well-established players instead of risky start-ups.

"Just prior to the crisis, a lot of silly money was going around," Migliucci said.

"A lot of new entrants take on these greenfield projects. I can give an example in Indonesia where a top pineapple producer -- a successful entrepreneur -- bought a coal project and wanted to be a coal miner, and they asked Credit Suisse to help finance that."