Shanxi Province-based Chinese steelmaker Taiyuan Iron and Steel (Taiyuan Steel) has stated that its Yuanjiacun
iron ore mine project worth RMB 10 billion ($1.52 billion) is currently being examined by
China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and may be granted official approval within the first half of the current year.
Accordingly, the project could break ground in the first half of 2011 and may yield its first
iron ore within one year. The whole project would reach its designed capacity within three years.
Taiyuan Steel expects that, having reached its designed capacity, the Yuanjiacun mine project will annually produce 22 million mt of
iron ore and 7.5 million mt of iron concentrate. The life of the mine is estimated at about 40 years.