China’s Kunming Steel to build iron mine in north

The Kunming Steel Co Ltd, the largest steel maker in western China’s Yunnan Province, plans to start building Vietnam’s Quy Xa iron mine jointly with the Vietnam Steel Corporation (VSC) this year, an official said Tuesday January 10. Li Min, an official with the international economy and trade department of Kunming Steel, told Interfax that Kunming Steel and VSC will build an iron smelter near the mine and export part of the products to Kunming Steel in exchange for bituminous coal and coke from Yunnan.
Besides the products used by Kunming Steel, the Quy Xa mine will export 1 million tonnes of iron ore to China annually for 350,000 tonnes of coke or 500,000 tonnes of bituminous coal. In addition, it will also supply 500,000 tonnes of iron ore to the Thai Nguyen steel plant during the second phase. VSC will also start building the second phase this year. The construction of the mine and the proposed smelter is scheduled for operation in 2008.
Located in northern Vietnam’s Lao Cai Province, the Quy Xa iron mine has 120 million tonnes of iron ore reserves. It is expected to produce 1.5 to 2 million tonnes of iron ore per year, with investment required for the project estimated at US$50 million.

 

Category: Business