Comprehensive news

China's proven gold reserves ranks seventh in the world
According to statistics, China's gold resources are between 15, 000 and 20,000 tons, and its proven reserves rank the seventh in the world, Hou Huimin, vice chairman of China Gold Association recently said in Shanghai.

Southeast Gansu lead-zinc mine areas stop production 
Lead-zinc mine areas around Chengxian County in southeast Gansu Province have stopped production due to a magnitude-8.0 earthquake in the neighboring Sichuan Province on May 12, China Securities Journal reported.

NDRC official: China unlikely to intervene in domestic steel prices 
Steel prices in China should be decided by the market, with no government interventions, Xiong Bilin, Industrial Department deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said on Thursday.

China to balance coal supply/demand in 2010 
China will need three billion tons of coal to meet its market demand and supply in 2010, predicted Wang Xianzheng, president of China National Coal Association.

CISA predicts China's dependence on iron ore import to fall gradually 
China's import of iron ore will continue to maintain high growth, but the growth will slow down, predicted by Feng Shuijun, deputy manager of China Iron and Steel Trade Company under the flag of China's second iron ore trader China Iron and Steel Group.

China to become coal net importer this year, Anbound 
China is likely to turn into a net importer of coal, according to Anbound citing an industrial expert.

Policy

Resources tax reform plan to expand scope of tax collection
To reform resources tax system will be one of the key tasks in China's tax system reform, and authoritative sources disclosed that resources tax reform plan is likely to be published in the latter half of this year and will expand the scope of tax collection.

China imposes special export tariffs on phosphate products 
China is expected to impose additional export tariffs on more phosphate products including phosphate rock, yellow phosphorus and calcium phosphate.

Market

China's copper concentrate output up 
China's output of copper concentrate is growing steadily, thanks to the rising on-stream availability of refineries and the sufficient raw material supply, according to CBI (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

Zinc prices may rise on quake impact 
Zinc prices are expected to rise on supply worry, as several zinc plants in Southwest China Sichuan Province suspended production because of the powerful earthquake, according to China Business News.

State-owned steel producers not to raise price of quake relief materials, NDRC 
China's economic planner National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has required large state-owned steel producers not to raise price of quake relief materials.

China's iron ore price hikes 
China's price of local-produced iron ore has hiked in May, according to the Market Operation and Regulatory Department of the Ministry of Commerce.

Mines found

Yunnan discovers large coal reserves 
According to China's General Administration of Coal Geology, it has discovered a large scale coalfield in Yunnan Zhantong region and the potential resources is to reach 3.334 billion tonnes and mainly for high quality anthracite.

18 Bln Tons Coal Reserve Added 
It is learned that, in 2007, Xinjiang newly discovered 45 mineral deposits of coal, iron and copper. Among which, the newly proven coal reserve was over 18 bln  tons, offering solid foundation for Xinjiang's new type industrialization.

Prominent explorer sees big gold finds in China 
China, already the world's No. 1 gold producer, could become an even bigger force with the expected discovery of several large deposits in the next five years, a leading explorer said on Wednesday.

Mine safety

Search on for missing miners 
Rescuers have not given up hope that 24 miners trapped underground by the May 12 earthquake are still alive, a senior work safety official said on Saturday.

Merge and acquisition

Chalco signs to buy 5 plants and smelter 
ALUMINUM Corp of China Ltd, the nation's biggest producer of the metal, signed an agreement to buy five aluminum-processing plants and a smelter from its parent for 4.2 billion yuan (US$605 million).

Statistics

China's output of iron ore in March 2008 
China produced 66,092,000 tons of iron ore in March 2008. The output in January-March reached 167,686,000  tons, up 25.1 percent year on year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

China's output of phosphate ore in March 2008 
China produced 4,519,000 tons of phosphate ore in March 2008. The output in January-March reached 10,  825,000 tons, up 26.0 percent year on year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.