The Democratic Republic of Congo's state mining company Gecamines said on Wednesday it has submitted an offer to buy Freeport McMoRan Inc's majority stake in the Tenke copper project.
Freeport agreed in May to sell its 56 percent stake in Tenke, one of the world's largest copper mines, to China Molybdenum Co Ltd (CMOC) for $2.65 billion.
Toronto-based Lundin Mining, which holds a 24 percent stake, has until Sept. 15 to exercise its right of first offer before any deal goes through.
Gecamines, which controls the remaining 20 percent, and Congolese authorities have objected to the sale, which they were not informed of beforehand.
Congo's mines minister said in May that he suspected Freeport was hiding its true value.
Freeport did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
It has previously said the transaction was conducted transparently and in accordance with all applicable laws.
"For us, it's a matter of setting up a new joint venture with new partners to facilitate the exit of Freeport and reassure the state and the workers," Gecamines' interim director-general Jacques Kamenga told Reuters.
He added that Gecamines had received "serious proposals from potential industrial and financial partners". He did not specify who but said CMOC's participation was not ruled out....MORE
HT: Mining.com who notes:
...Apart from the deal for Tenke, Freeport is also in talks with CMOC to sell its interests in Freeport Cobalt, including the Kokkola Cobalt Refinery in Finland, for $100 million and the Kisanfu Exploration project in the DRC for $50 million. Freeport reported consolidated Tenke sales for the year 2015 totaling 467 million pounds of copper (215,000 tonnes) and 35 million pounds of cobalt (16,000 tonnes) at a net unit cash cost of $1.21 per pound of copper....MORE
Earlier:
May 20
Why the CIA Reads The Financial Times (and you should too) Tesla and Cobalt
May 9
"Freeport Sinks On Sale of Africa Copper Mine To Chinese" (FCX; LUN.TO)
