Court rejects Teck’s bid for copper mine

The government of Mexico will leave the Cananea SA copper mine up for sale, following a judge’s rejection of a recent $468-million bid by a consortium of mining companies. The bid by Cupriofera Cananea, a group whose major shareholders include Vancouver-based Teck (TSE) and West Germany’s Metallgesellschaft, failed to comply with the financing terms outlined by the mine’s union, the judge ruled.

The union is demanding that the mine be paid in full within 75 days of purchases, a condition that Cupriofera left unfulfilled.

A new round of bidding is now under way, with the minimum price remaining at $450 million. Cupriofera’s bid was slightly above half of the initial asking price.

Cananea, Mexico’s largest open pit mine, is famous for the 1906 strike against its then U.S. owners, which fuelled Mexico’s 1910 revolution.