Gansu Jinchuan Group, China's largest  nickel  producer, recently set up a joint venture with a Gansu-based mining  company  to  develop  iron ore, copper, tungsten and minor metal resources in China, a company official told Interfax yesterday.

The Gansu  mining  company, named Qinqi Mining Co. Ltd., is wholly owned by the Gansu  Geology  and  Mine  Survey Bureau, which owns more than 10 exploration licenses both in Gansu Province and other regions in China.

The joint  venture  will  prospect  for iron ore, copper, tungsten, rare earth, niobium  and  tantalum  resources  in the 10 mines to which Qinqi holds exploration licenses, covering an area of 300 square kilometers, a Qinqi Mining general affairs office official, surnamed Gao, said.

"Jinchuan  is the controlling shareholder in the joint venture, and will therefore fully finance the prospecting work," Gao said.

To facilitate  mine  development,  Qinqi  Mining  has  strengthened  its cooperation  with  various  foreign  mining  companies  in order to take advantage of both their capital and technology.

Qinqi Mining  previously  formed a joint venture with Rio Tinto in 2002, in order  to  carry  out due diligence assessments on copper deposits in Gansu Province  and  the  Inner  Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The company also established  a joint venture with Canadian-based Pargas Enterprises Ltd (BVI)  on  Feb.  5,  2004,  in order to develop mineral resources in southern Gansu Province.