Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Romania plans to auction Cupru Min SA, its copper mining company, on Jan. 18 at a starting price of 263.3 million lei ($85 million), the Economy Ministry said.

Potential bidders can submit offers by Jan. 17, the ministry said in a statement published during the weekend on its website. Romania has received more than 10 letters of intent for Cupru Min, Alexandru Patruti, who heads the country’s Mineral Resources Agency, said on Sept. 8.

Canada’s Barrick Gold Corp and Mineco AG, a Swiss-based private mining company, may bid for the copper miner, newswire Mediafax reported on Oct. 10, citing unidentified Economy Ministry officials.

--Editors: Alan Purkiss, Chris Peterson

To contact the reporter on this story: Irina Savu in Bucharest at isavu@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James M. Gomez at jagomez@bloomberg.net