Codelco, China Minmetals sign deal

Chile's state-owned Codelco, the biggest copper miner in the world, said it had reached a US$2bn deal with China's Minmetals, a state-owned metals trading house, in which Minmetals would initially invest US$550m in a 50-50 joint venture and in return, would get a long-term copper supply contract. Codelco said the China Development Bank would finance Minmetals' investment in Chilean copper projects.