China Mining United sets new fundraising target

China Mining United Fund (CMUF) plans to raise US$442-736 million to invest in commodities assets, Bloomberg reported. “We are investing in whatever China is short of – potash, cobalt, uranium, chromium, copper, gold, silver, coking coal and iron ore,” said the Beijing-based company said, which raised US$73.6 million last year. It will also seek marketing rights for the mines and oilfields it invests in. CMUF already owns stakes in companies and projects in the US, Canada, Japan, Australia and Hong Kong. These include holdings in Brazilian Potash Corp, Canada’s Allana Potash Corp, and Excelsior Energy, a Canadian energy exploration company. The fund is chaired by Zheng Zhi, deputy chairman of the Peking University PE Investment Union. Chinese companies, including China Investment Corp, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, spend more than US$30 billion last year on natural resources assets in Nigeria, Australia and Canada.