TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – US copper, gold and molybdenum producer Freeport-McMoRan continues to hold talks with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) regarding the mining contract for its large Tenke Fungurume mine in the country, and expects that an agreement will be reached sooner rather than later, president and CEO Richard Adkerson said on Monday.

“The process is unfolding...discussions are going on right now,” he told analysts and investors on a conference call.

Adkerson suggested that the negative effects of low copper prices on the DRC would provide added impetus to reaching an agreement, and added that “key government officials” recognise the validity of the Tenke Fungurume mining contract.

Construction on the project is now more than 80% completed, and commissioning of the plant is scheduled to get under way in the second quarter, said mining president John Marsden, who is overseeing the project.

The plant will then ramp up to commercial production by the end of 2009.

The $1,9-billion Tenke Fungurume mine will initially produce an average of 250-million pounds of copper and 18-million pounds of cobalt.

The operation, in which Freeport owns an effective 57,75% stake, Toronto-based Lundin Mining holds 24,75% and DRC State-owned miner Gécamines owns the balance, is one of the 61 contracts being relooked at by the government.

The DRC began the review in 2007, focusing on contracts which were entered into during the country's 1998 to 2003 civil war and the subsequent transition period.

A couple of companies, including Moto Goldmines and Anvil Mining, have already concluded the process, and have agreed to changes in the terms of their contracts. However, both firms retained the same percentage of equity interest in their respective assets.

Freeport, however, has maintained throughout the process that its contract was negotiated transparently and legitimately, and will hold up to legal scrutiny.

Adkerson said on Monday he was "confident that we will find a way forward that both sides are happy with."

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