* Sale of copper mines completed - lawmaker, documents
* Murky asset sale comes ahead of elections
By Jonny Hogg
KINSHASA, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo's government has sold its minority stake in two confiscated copper mining projects for ${esc.dollar}30 million, well below their estimated value, according to a senior lawmaker and documents seen by Reuters on Thursday.
The sale, which involves Congo's No. 3 copper mine, is the latest in a series of controversial transactions that have dominated the mining industry and comes months ahead of elections, in which President Joseph Kabila is set to face re-election.
Modeste Bahati Lukwebo, the head of the audit board of the National Assembly's economic and financial committee, said Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu ordered the sale of state mining company Sodimico's 30 percent stake in Frontier and Lonshi mines to Fortune Ahead, a Hong Kong-registered shell company.
Fortune Ahead already owned the other 70 percent under an agreement creating a joint venture, known as Sodifor, which was signed last year.
Kabwelulu, who on Wednesday denied the government's stake in the mines in the copper-rich Katanga region had been sold, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Fortune Ahead has not responded to requests for comment.
"They sold it for a price of ${esc.dollar}30 million, which was imposed on the CEO of Sodimico .... The order was given by the minister of mines," Lukwebo told Reuters.
The ${esc.dollar}30 million price tag would just be over 6 percent of the estimated market value of the stake, according to analysts. An expert valuation done by the government last year put the stake's value at a much higher ${esc.dollar}900 million, Lukwebo said, meaning it was sold at just over 3 percent of the value.
Sodimico Chief Executive Officer Laurent Lambert Tshisola Kangoa did not take calls seeking comment on the reported sale.
The two mines at the centre of the sale were previously part-owned by Canadian miner First Quantum until both were confiscated last year, passing back to Sodimico.
First Quantum is still contesting the removal of the licenses in court.
A letter from Sodimico to the mines ministry, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, also says that Sodimico had sold its share in the Sodifor joint venture for ${esc.dollar}30 million.
The deal was completed on March 18, the letter showed.
Frontier is Congo's third-largest copper mine, and Lonshi is a depleted open pit mine being eyed for underground development.
Congo has vast mineral assets, but the country has been crippled by decades of poor governance, and it is still struggling to recover from years of war.
Post-war elections in 2006 were meant to pave the way for increased investor confidence, but they were swiftly followed by an opaque review of mining contracts.
The controversial sale of expropriated assets has done little to reassure firms. The Kolwezi project was confiscated from First Quantum in 2009 as part of the review of mining contracts and has subsequently been sold to London-listed Kazakh miner ENRC . (Writing by David Lewis, editing by Eric Onstad and Jane Baird)
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