Chinese want all Copper Flats ore
* Florence Chong
* April 09, 2007
theaustralian.news.com.au
CHINA has indicated it will buy the entire production of Copper Flats, a project of Ord River Resources in Western Australia, official Chinese visitor Zhang Keli says.
Mr Zhang, vice-general manager of China Non-Ferrous Metal Mining (CNMC) group, said his company would like to "fast-track the project".
A subsidiary of CNMC, China Non-Ferrous Metals International Mining (CNMIM), has a stake of more than 15 per cent in Ord River - an investment made more than two years ago.
Mr Zhang said Ord's project in Copper Flats was of "great interest" because of China's high demand for copper.
"During my visit to Australia I personally visited Copper Flats and was very impressed with the analysis Ord has done and its potential," Mr Zhang said.
"We see this as a very promising project.
"It requires more specific technical work and that will occur soon."
He said that his company would like to "turn the potential resource into economic reality".
"We would also be interested in buying the entire production if and when that occurs, so we would like to fast-track the project."
CNMC, a state-owned enterprise charged with handling China's non-ferrous industry investment internationally, has invested in projects with more than 10 million tonnes of non-ferrous metals worldwide.
Mr Zhang said that, as a large Chinese company with worldwide operations, it needed expert international partners who shared its vision.
Ord brought to the company Western expertise and standards, essential resource industry experience and international capital-raising skills, which was vital in realising the potential in projects.
"Ord is a very good platform for us," he said, adding that the significance of the relationship was not lost on the Chinese company.
In return, he added, CNMIM brought to Ord the scale of a Chinese government enterprise, a "very sizeable market" and global experience in start-to-finish mining project development.
Mr Zhang said that last year CNMIM "invited" Ord to join in its Bolaven Plateau bauxite project in Laos.
"The project is going smoothly. There is the long-term possibility to develop an integrated aluminium industry in Laos.
"We invested in Ord because the company provides Western technical expertise and standards."
CNMIM was also willing to invest in Bougainville (Copper) in Papua New Guinea. If and when it managed to buy into the project, Mr Zhang said, his company would be "delighted to work with Ord".
Ord River, a junior mining house, claimed last November that it had made potentially one of the most significant discoveries in Australian copper mining history in the East Kimberley region - a claim, however, which was greeted by analysts at the time with considerable scepticism. |
