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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.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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