SHANGHAI, May 28 (Dow Jones) - China International Mining Co. was founded May 10 this year, in a bid to develop overseas copper concentrate deposits, He Changming, general manager of Jiangxi Copper Co., said Tuesday. The new company was jointly formed by Jiangxi Copper and three other copper smelters as well as several construction firms.
"We formed this new firm May 10...Now we are in the registration process," He said, speaking at the 10th Anniversary Ceremony of the Founding of Shanghai's Futures Market held by the Shanghai Futures Exchange.
The new venture will primarily develop copper concentrate deposits in other countries, as China lacks copper concentrate reserves.
"To seek concentrates from overseas is an inevitable measure...(because) we have yet to find any high-quality deposit so far," He said.
He said China International Mining Co. had signed a preliminary agreement with a Philippine-based copper mine recently to excavate copper concentrates in the Philippines.
Earlier this year, China United Copper Co. was founded by Jiangxi Copper Co., Yunnan Copper Co., Tongling Non-ferrous Metals Co., Daye Non-ferrous Metals Co., China Minmetals Nonferrous Metals Co. and Zhongtiaoshan Non- ferrous Metals Co., aiming to acquire copper concentrates from overseas to satisfy China's rising demand.
As reported, China United Copper will buy at least 1.32 million metric tons of copper concentrates this year, about 60% of the country's total concentrate imports in 2001.
During January-April this year, China's copper concentrates imports rose 1% on year to 618,623 tons, according to figures from the General Administration of Customs.
China imported 2.3 million tons of copper concentrates last year, a 24% increase from the previous year.
-By China Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; (86-21)6218-3268 djnews.shanghai@ dowjones.com
(This story was originally published by Dow Jones Newswires)
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