Canada sells its mineral wealth

U.S. copper miner Phelps Dodge Corp. said Monday it plans to buy Canada's Inco Ltd. and Falconbridge Ltd. for at least $48-billion (U.S.), creating the world's largest nickel producer and the largest publicly traded copper producer.

The first step of the transaction would see the U.S. company buying as much as $3-billion in debt from Inco to help the Canadian nickel miner buy Falconbridge. Phelps Dodge would then pay about $40-billion for the combined Inco and Falconbridge.