Chinese miner Jiangxi Copper Co. has announced that the company and its partner Metallurgical Corp. of China are observing the situation in Afghanistan, and will advance the Mes Aynak copper mine when it is possible.
“Due to the unstable situation in Afghanistan, the Mes Aynak copper mine invested by the company has not yet undergone substantial construction,” Zheng Gaoqing, the chairman of Jiangxi Copper, said at an online brief-ing, as reported by Reuters.
In 2008, the two businesses took on a 30-year lease for the Afghan mine which is estimated to have a reserve of 11.08 million tonnes of copper.
Jiangxi Copper holds a 25 percent share of the Afghan copper project.
“The rise in copper prices has brought direct benefits to the company’s own ores,” Zheng said during the online briefing.
The mine is located about 40 kilometres south-east of Afghanistan’s cap-ital Kabul.