Chilean Justice gives Mitsubishi three days to answer Codelco’s demands

Anglo and Codelco are disputing terms of the contract covering assets that include Los Bronces, set to become the world’s fifth-biggest copper mine. Mitsubishi’s deal with Anglo followed an October announcement that Mitsui & Co. would provide $6.75 billion to Codelco to finance the purchase of the full 49 percent Sur stake under the option contract.

According Yuji Nishiyama, analyst with Credit Suisse Group AG in Tokyo, “Mitsubishi certainly knew what they were getting into,” he told Bloomberg, adding that the project is significant for Mitsubishi, but it is also “not worth risking their relationship with the Chile government.”

In the meantime rumours a strike triggered by Anglo American if the miner does not allow Codelco to buy a 49 percent stake in its prized Chilean assets keep rising, reports the Financial Times, citing a top union leader: 

Though the two companies have quietly been in contact in recent weeks, according to one person familiar with the situation, no progress on settling the bitter month-long dispute is expected until early January, when Codelco plans to seek to exercise a long-held option over Anglo’s flagship copper mine, Los Bronces.

The Chilean court’s resolution requests Mitsubishi’s formal position on the deal with Anglo, before ruling “a final, more drastic resolution,” reports El Mercurio.