TISCO and CNMC ink deal to develop Myanmar nickel project

Friday, 30 July 2010 13:58:56 (GMT+2)

On July 29, Chinese steel producer Taiyuan Iron and Steel Co. (TISCO) said that it has signed an agreement with China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group Co. (CNMC) to jointly develop the Tagaung Taung nickel mining project in Myanmar.

Under the agreement, TISCO will inject capital into CNMC Nickel Co., which will be renamed as CNMC TISCO Nickel Co. The size of the investment has not been disclosed. According to TISCO, the newly-named company will develop overseas mineral resources and build up cross-regional, cross-industry trading partnerships with domestic and overseas mining companies.

Accordingly, the Tagaung Taung project, including mining and smelting, will start operation roughly in mid-2011. The project, which costs an investment of over $800 million, has a reserve of more than 30 million mt of high grade nickel ores and 700,000 mt of pure nickel. The Tagaung Taung project is expected to produce 85,000 mt of ferronickel and 22,000 mt of pure nickel annually.

TISCO, which includes Taigang Stainless Steel as a subsidiary, is the largest stainless steel producer in China, consuming about 100,000 mt of nickel a year.

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