Copper in the new era is in demand and new deals are constantly in the spotlight in countries with rich deposits. Recently, China North Industries Corp, known as Norinco, raised its offer in order to acquire the copper and cobalt assets belonging to Chemaf, increasing the Congolese government’s stake and smoothing the path to a deal, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The Chinese defense and industrial giant’s $1.4 billion bid in June stalled when Congo’s state-owned mining company, Gecamines, made its own bid for Chemaf’s assets, escalating a standoff complicated by U.S. officials lobbying to keep the central African country’s copper-rich deposits out of Chinese hands.

Norinco has now proposed an increased stake for the Democratic Republic of Congo government in Chemaf’s Mutoshi and Etoile mines, from the current 5 percent to 15 percent — at no additional cost — with the proposal under negotiation, according to anonymous sources who spoke to Reuters.

Chemaf, a long-time partner of commodities trader Trafigura, made the offer on behalf of Norinco to the Congolese government last month and has been in discussions since then, the sources added.

Norinco has told the Congolese government it is flexible about the future shareholding structure as long as it retains a majority interest, the sources said.

The sources said Norinco has also offered Congo a percentage of Chemaf’s metal production proportional to its stake, which the government could sell, in a deal similar to that Gecamines has with China’s CMOC.

Norinco has already acquired the Comica and Lamikal mines in Congo. It offered about $900 million for Chemaf’s assets, including debt settlement, and committed an additional $500 million to complete the Etoile and Mutoshi mine expansion projects, the sources said.