Western Mining Co., a Chinese producer of zinc, nickel and copper, is seeking as much as 6.2 billion yuan ($814 million) in a Shanghai initial public offering to expand mine production and buy stakes in other mines.

The company will sell as many as 460 million new shares at between 12 and 13.48 yuan each, Xining, Qinghai-based Western Mining said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange today. UBS AG's is arranging the sale, its first in China.

China's demand for raw materials is growing along with the economy, which expanded 11.1 percent in the first quarter, and such appetite has helped send prices surging. Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange have risen more than fourfold in the past five years.

Investors are piling into Chinese share sales to tap surging economic growth, and a tripling of the benchmark CSI 300 Index in the past year. China Molybdenum Co., the nation's second-biggest producer of the metal, sold additional shares to meet investor demand after its shares gained 59 percent on the first trading day of its Hong Kong initial offering in April.

The price range values Western Mining shares at 18.58 times to 20.87 times last year's earnings based on its enlarged share capital, according to the filing. The Shanghai-listed shares of Hunan Zhuye Torch Metal Co, China's largest zinc producer, traded at 16.7 times earnings on June 29.