“The process could be completed by end-October,” Economy Ministry Varujan Vosganian said Thursday.
The initial deadline expired on July 19. Amsterdam-based trading company Trafigura had filed the only bid for the planned auction, but the documentation was incomplete.
Cupru Min wants 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 sale agreement will be signed for a period of seven years. Cupru Min is requesting a down payment of EUR40 million, payable in one installment no later than December 1, 2013.
Cupru Min is Romania’s largest copper producer. The company’s main asset is the Rosia Poieni mining perimeter, which is estimated to hold 60% of the country’s copper reserves.
The authorities have been trying to privatize the company for several years, but had no luck so far. In 2012, Canadian-based Roman Copper Corp. won an auction to purchase the Romanian company, but the government cancelled the auction, citing contractual disagreements.
In February this year, the Economy Ministry was authorized to search for associates that could finance part of the company’s operations. The potential investor would have to contribute EUR40 to EUR50 million to the company’s cash flow.