British mining development company Griffin Mining has been awarded a licence to develop the Caijiaying zinc-gold deposit in Hebei province, through its local subsidiary, Hebei Hau-ao Mining Development Co. Griffin said that this was the first licence awarded to a foreign company for a base metal deposit in the People’s Republic. The Caijiaying deposit has a projected minimum life of 10 years and an annual output of 180,000 tonnes of ore a year. Production is expected to start before the end of 2002.
PetroChina records drop in profits PetroChina posted a net profit of Yn46.81bn for 2001, 15 per cent down on the previous year. The company attributed the fall to a slump in oil, refinery and petrochemical prices. However, the figure was still high enough to secure its place as the most profitable Hong Kong-listed company.
PetroChina also reported that the Indonesian oil operations it purchased in 2001 from Devon Energy for US$216m would contribute less than 1 per cent to its total production. However, company president Huang Yan said that this was only the first acquisition and that more were planned for the future.
Analysts quoted by South China Morning Post said that international expansion was necessary to counter stagnant production growth in China. Production volumes at Daqing oilfield in Heilongjiang province, for example, which accounts for half of PetroChina’s total, peaked in 1998.
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