The Economy Ministry, which owns Cupru Min said in a statement Friday it will change procedures to attract a strategic investor for company.
The two companies that passed the pre-qualification process, namely Turkish chrome producer Yildirim Holding Inc., did not submit binding bids for the 331,000 tons of copper concentrate Cupru Min planned to sell.
Cupru Min, Romania’s largest copper producer, planned to sell up to 331,890 tons of copper concentrate at a starting price of $6,900 a ton of copper from the available copper concentrate.
The company had revenues of RON138.5 million and a profit of RON13.9 million in the first ten months of 2013.
Cupru Min’s main asset is the Rosia Poieni mining perimeter, which is estimated to hold 60% of the country’s copper reserves.
In spring 2012, the company was put up for sale at a starting price of EUR57.3 million but the procedure was halted over disagreements with Canadian-based Roman Copper Corp., which had won the purchase auction.
In February this year, the Economy Ministry was authorized to search for associates that could finance part of the company’s operations with at least EUR40-50 million.