Mining group presses for law reform

Mining group presses for law reform
By Wang Ying
Updated: 2006-06-14 09:14

"Foreign investors can take up to full stakes in mining operations of many commodities except a few such as uranium and high-class gold," the expert said.

Rio Tinto has been active in exploring for mineral resources in China for over 10 years, but hasn't discovered anything yet, Tom Albanese, Rio Tinto's chief executive for copper and exploration, told China Daily in an interview.

"It has been somewhat slow to attain the right (from the government) to explore and to mine with successful operations," Albanese said.

The Anglo-Australian mining company does not expect to materialize mining production in China in the near term, but believes the country will remain a robust driver to boost demand.

"In the foreseeable future, our mining activities would possibly be focused out of China."

He declined to elaborate on how long a period that would last, but said they have to remain "patient" for a while.

Currently, the company is exploring for mineral resources in 30 countries including China. It expects most of its future production will come from North America and Australia, with growth predicted in Africa and other parts of Asia such as Mongolia.
For the moment, 75 per cent of its supply is divided between North America and Australia, with the remainder balanced by other countries.

Albanese said global demand for commodities would remain robust, mainly coming from the increasing Chinese economy and the continued growth of the United States.

Over the past few years, almost 100 per cent of the global increase in copper consumption, for example, came from China, Albanese said. The big increase in China is caused by its rapid industrialization and urbanization of its big population, he said.

India, whose economic growth is among the world's fastest, will provide another strong boost in demand in years to come, he added.

However, bottlenecks in the supply chain will keep production lagging behind surging demand.

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