China Minmetals Corp., the country’s largest metals trader, has signed an agreement with Hunan Nonferrous Metals Holding Group (Hunan Nonferrous Group) to take a 51 percent stake in the latter, Interfax reported on December 28. Minmetals will pay RMB 5.56 billion yuan (US$814 million) in the deal. The Hunan provincial government will retain 49% in the group.
Zhou Zhongshu, president of Minmetals, said in the announcement that in the next three to five years Hunan Nonferrous Group will acquire tungsten, antimony, tin, rare earth, lead and zinc resources in Hunan Province. These purchases are part of a plan to transform it into a leading global metallurgical company and the world’s largest rare earth supplier.
Hunan is one of the main tin-producing regions of China, although Hunan Nonferrous does not currently operate any tin operations. The main large tin producers in the province currently are Yunnan Tin, China Tin and Western Mining, although many small mines also operate there.
