China Nonferrous Metals Group in talks to invest in Kazakh copper smelter

Credit: KAZ Minerals

China Nonferrous Metals Mining Group Co Ltd (CNMC) executives met with representatives from the Kazakh government to discuss investment in a 300,000 tonne copper cathode plant, Kazakh state news agency Kazinform reported on Thursday.

Liu Yu, deputy director general of state-owned CNMC, met with Marat Karabayev, minister of industry and infrastructure development, in the Kazakh capital Astana, state media said.

Kazakhstan’s largest copper producer Kazakhmys Corp and Kazakh miner KAZ Minerals will also participate in the project, state media added.

CNMC did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

A major company that has taken the lead in developing China’s overseas non-ferrous mineral resources with numerous investments, CNMC also has an electrolytic aluminum project in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan holds reserves of 20 million tons of copper, according to US Geological Survey. The country produced 453,003 tonnes of refined copper in 2022, up 12.7% from a year earlier, data from the Kazakh Statistics Bureau shows.

Shares in CNMC unit, China Nonferrous Metal Industry’s Foreign Engineering and Construction 000758.SZ, rose 2% in morning Friday trade.

($1 = 6.9018 Chinese yuan)

(By Andrew Hayley, Siyi Liu and Mai Nguyen; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Edwina Gibbs)

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