Asbestos cancer attorneys said the settlement centers on some 95,000 claims relating to mesothelioma, a pernicious lung disease caused by exposure to asbestos. The claims are against two of the company's subsidiaries, ASARCO's Cement Asbestos Products Co. and Lake Asbestsos of Quebec Ltd. ASARCO will contribute $750 million to a fund to settle the asbestos-related claims. The ASARCO bankruptcy case, ongoing since 2005, has involved its parent company, Grupo Mexico, a mining conglomerate that is the world's third largest producer of copper, with mining interests in several South American locations. ASARCO claimed Grupo Mexico was stripping ASARCO's assets to protect them from asbestos and environmental liability claims and to prevent the mines from being used to pay ASARCO creditors. Due to this controversy, the bankruptcy has been a long and complicated procedure. The reorganization plan agreed to by federal and state governments as well as two Native American tribes still must be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, Texas, and the company's creditors.