Freeport and China firm negotiate on long-term copper contract: Report

China's Yunnan Copper Industrial Co is in discussions with PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of US mining firm Freeport McMoRan in a bid to reach a long-term agreement on purchasing copper concentrate, a Yunnan official was quoted by Platts as saying Wednesday.

Freeport Indonesia operates a giant copper and gold mine in Irian Jaya province.

"We are still at the talking level and further details need to be discussed," the official said, adding that the companies have established a good trading relationship.

"We now have the incentives to establish a long-term cooperation agreement to ensure stable supply of copper concentrate," the official said.

He added that the companies had paid visits to each other's plants to intensify the exchanges. "We are currently exploring more long-term cooperation opportunities with big copper miners overseas due to our growing smelting abilities," the official said.

Yunnan aims to produce 160,000 metric tons of cathodes in 2001. (*)