One of China’s largest miners has announced an investment in a project to increase copper production by 100,000 tons a year. The main reason is the expected growing demand for batteries for electric cars.
Jiangxi Copper wants to invest more than 11 billion yuan in the project, which is about $ 1.76 billion. The company’s management decided on the investment only shortly after announcing a year-on-year increase in profit of more than 300 percent in the first half of this year.
The project will be located in the Chinese province of Jiangxi, where the company is based and operates most of its business. The capacity of the project should be 100 thousand tons per year after its completion. However, it will be divided into two phases. The first is to start operation by the end of 2023, the second by the next five years.
However, Jiangxi Copper said it planned further investments in the coming years in other projects to mine copper ore and other raw materials needed to make batteries for electric cars. The total volume of investments will thus approach two billion dollars. The company is not worried about sales, as it is possible to expect an increase in demand for an emission-free type of means of transport.
