Chilean state copper giant Corporacion Nacional del Cobre de Chile's tentative investment budget for 2007 totals $2.37 billion, according to a company spokesman.

The plan hinges on approval by the Finance Ministry, he added. The ministry is currently drafting the 2007 budget, while the budget of the state-owned companies is set in December of each year.

One of Codelco's top items is the Gaby project, for which Codelco plans to earmark $700 million in construction, the spokesman added.

Gaby, expected to come on line in early 2008, will cost $840 million in total, the spokesman said. That's moderately less than the $898 million the company previously estimated.

Last year, Codelco produced 1.83 million metric tons of copper, a 0.5% drop from the 1.84 million tons it produced the previous year.

Gaby is to produce 150,000 metric tons of copper a year for a 14-year period.