UPDATE 2-Codelco aims to reach deal with Anglo by July 17

* Codelco aiming for deal before talk window ends- chairman
* Negotiation window ends July 17
* Miners in bitter dispute over Anglo Sur assets

By Alexandra Ulmer and Felipe Iturrieta
SANTIAGO, July 6 (Reuters) - Codelco, the world's
No. 1 copper producer, aims to reach a deal to solve a dispute
with global miner Anglo American Plc before the
companies' negotiation window closes on July 17th, Chairman
Gerardo Jofre said on Friday.
When asked by Reuters whether the mining companies were
inclined to extend a self-imposed deadline for the talks for a
second time, Jofre told reporters "No ... We're trying to do it
within the given time frame."
The mining firms appear poised to clinch a deal to solve
their multibillion-dollar, three-continental dispute over
Anglo's south-central Chilean copper assets. They announced on
May 22 they had asked for a suspension of their legal fight.
The companies have maintained a strict silence around the
confidential talks, but the alternative floated most commonly in
the industry involves state-owned Codelco buying 24.5 percent of
the assets and receiving some sort of compensation.
Anglo's head of copper John MacKenzie declined to comment on
the talks.
He, Jofre and other mining executives were attending a
ceremony at the presidential palace to launch the first blasting
operations to transform Codelco's century-old Chuquicamata
copper mine into an underground operation.

The dispute between Codelco and Anglo centers on an option
agreement dating to 1978.
Codelco said in October it would exercise the option to buy
a 49 percent stake in Anglo American Sur (AAS) when the option
window opened in January.
But weeks later, Anglo surprised everyone with the
pre-emptive sale of a 24.5 percent stake in AAS to Mitsubishi
Corp, in a $5.4 billion deal that dented Codelco's
ambitions but which it said secured better value for investors.
Since then, the companies have been tussling for the
properties, which include Los Bronces, a promising mine that
used to be called La Disputada, "the disputed one," in Spanish.
A slice of the prized properties would be a major boost for
Codelco, which faces stubbornly dwindling ore grades in its
tired deposits as it seeks to boost its annual output to 2.1
million tonnes by 2020.
Anglo's shares closed down 2.73 percent on Friday, outpacing
a 2.19 percent fall on the broader FTSE 350 mining index
.