www.TibetanReview.net, August 20, 2008
Production of copper from the Yulong Copper Mine, the PRC’s largest proven copper deposit, located in Qamdo (Tibetan: Chamdo) Prefecture of Tibet Autonomous Region will begin in Sep 2008, after being in preparation for two years, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency Aug 15, citing a senior industry official in Tibet. It said that a production line with annual output capacity of 10,000 tons of refined copper had already been built at the mine. The expected production this year will be 2,000 tons.
The mine, with a proven deposit of 6.5 million tons of copper in ore form and prospective reserves of 10 million tons, would be the second largest in Asia, the report said.
However, full construction of the mine to ensure large-scale production continues. The report said the first phase of construction, costing 1.8 billion yuan ($262 million), would be finished by 2010, by which time the mine is expected to produce 30,000 tons annually. The Tibet Yulong Copper Co. Ltd. hopes to expand the production capacity to 100,000 tons a year eventually.
The mine is expected to help China with significant savings on imports of copper.