LONDON (Reuters) - Copper miner Kazakhmys (>> Kazakhmys plc) paved the way on Friday for a $4.6 billion (3.0 billion pounds) buyout of Kazakh rival ENRC (>> Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation), in which it is the single largest investor, as almost 99 percent of voting shareholders backed the deal.

Kazakhmys support is key for ENRC's founding trio, who, together with the Kazakh government, have made a bid for the shares they do not already own and want to take ENRC off the London market - ending almost six years marred by corruption probes, governance concerns and boardroom rows.

The bidders already own almost 54 percent, meaning that Kazakhmys support now takes them over the 75 percent mark.

(Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; Editing by Keith Weir)

Stocks treated in this article : Kazakhmys plc, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation