By Polly Yam
HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's second-biggest gold miner, Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd (2899.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), will delay building and scale down spending on its Rio Blanco copper-molybdenum project in Peru, its chairman said on Monday.
The revised plan would be more economical and environmentally friendly, said Chen Jinghe, after three towns in northern Peru voted in September against the project amid fears it would pollute rich agricultural lands.
"We are revising the development plan of the project," Chen said at the Reuters Global Mining Summit in Hong Kong, adding the start-up of the building of the project would be delayed. He declined to give a time frame.
"The scale of investment may fall, but the outcome could be better," he said.
Production at the Rio Blanco project, which has been priced at $1.4 billion, would be maintained at 200,000 tons of copper in concentrate a year as originally planned, Chen said.
Zijin said on Friday its 2007 net profit rose 50 percent to 2.6 billion yuan ($366.2 million) helped by increased gold, copper and zinc production. ID:nHKG367860
But Zijin shares dropped nearly 12 percent in Hong Kong on Monday, caught up in a global sell-off and hit by market disappointment at the lack of a 2007 dividend payment, brokers said. In late trade, the stock had recovered to HK$9.73, a fall of 3.5 percent.
Chen said gold had contributed about 60 percent of Zijin's 2007 profits, and that rate would rise in the future. Continued...
© Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved.
| Japan Investment | Jul 01 - 2, 2008 | Country Summits |
| Global Real Estate | Jun 23 - 25, 2008 | Real Estate |
| Consumer and Retail | Jun 16 - 18, 2008 | Consumer Retail |
| Investment Outlook | Jun 09 - 12, 2008 | Financial Services / Exchanges |
| Global Energy | Jun 01 - 5, 2008 | Energy |
