I'm comfortable with it Olly. Definately some larger bids pulled...

I'm comfortable with it Olly. Definately some larger bids pulled before the announcement though.

Gives them a bit more to talk about at the European roadshow

Metals giant steps up expansion to lift sales
06/03/2007 08:47:34 REUTERS
Hunan Nonferrous Metals says it will launch a silver division and an Australian copper smelter this year after boosting its share of world tungsten reserves to 30 per cent by acquiring a large mine. Chairman He Renchun said the state-owned group would boost this year's sales revenues by 25% to 30 billion yuan and would consider floating more shares in its Hong Kong-listed unit to finance projects in China and overseas. "Hunan Nonferrous aims to become a world-famous metals company and to play a major role in development of the global industry," Mr He said in a recent interview.

Rapid economic growth is fuelling huge demand for metals in China, which consumes nearly a quarter of the world's copper and 30 per cent of its zinc. Hunan, the country's largest zinc producer, will boost capacity by 25 per cent to more than 500,000 tonnes of lead and zinc combined as part of a 1.5 billion yuan plan to clean up its Zhuzhou Smelter. The project will take two to three years.

Mr He said the group had just acquired the Xiangdong tungsten mine in its home province and was planning to form a silver division this year by consolidating at least three refineries in different parts of Hunan. The silver unit will produce about 2,000 tonnes a year of silver ingot as a by-product of the company's lead-zinc ore.

Hunan Nonferrous Metals Holding Group holds a 57.6 per cent stake in its listed arm, Hunan Nonferrous Metals Corp (HNC), which floated in Hong Kong a year ago and now has a market capitalisation of about HK$17 billion. Mr He said the group was considering an additional share issue to help finance modernisation projects and acquisitions. The company's search for raw materials has taken it to Pakistan and to Australia, where start-up of a mine and smelter is scheduled for the second half of the year. The Australian project, a joint venture between HNC and Compass Resources in the Northern Territory, is designed to produce 10,000 tonnes of electrolytic copper, 1,000 tonnes of cobalt and 750 tonnes a year of nickel from oxide ore.