BUENOS AIRES (miningweekly.com) – A law that proposes to restructure the board of Chilean State-owned copper-miner Codelco and includes $1-billion in government funds for the company has yet to make its way through the nation's National Congress.

The corporate governance bill is aimed at improving the way Codelco, the world's biggest copper-miner, is run, and making it less subject to political pressure.

The bill states that, of the nine directors on Codelco's board, four will be chosen by the Chilean President, one will represent workers and another four will be picked by the High Public Direction, a body that oversees the selection, formation, evaluation and development of high-ranked government authorities.

However, some congressmen say the Senate should be responsible for approving the other four directors, rather than the High Public Direction.

There is also a proposal that there should be two members representing the workers on Codelco's board.

The process may require several sessions before an agreement is reached and the law can be passed. However, Mining Minister Santiago González has urged Parliament to approve the law “as soon as possible”.

On Tuesday, Codelco began a process to issue up to $400-million of bonds, and the group has said it plans to invest some $2-billion this year.

Ratings agency Fitch said in a note to the Santiago Stock Exchange it had assigned the registered bonds a AAA rating.

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