The State-owned metallurgical and mineral resources developer and processor reached an agreement recently in Beijing with Samancor Corporation to jointly exploit chrome ore resources.

According to the agreement, Sinosteel will hold a 50 per cent stake in the joint venture, which is designed to turn out 1.6 million tons of chrome ore and 310,000 tons of ferrochrome annually.

The two sides will fulfil their rights and duties according to shares they hold.

The joint venture owns 74 million tons of chrome ore resources seven times China's total chrome ore reserves.

Its efficient equipment and infrastructure for mining, ore selecting and metallurgy are a foundation for further development, said a representative of Sinosteel.

With an expansion in production, the project is expected to be more resistant to risk, he said.

Samancor Corporation is a large chrome ore and ferrochrome enterprise registered in South Africa. Its main businesses are metallurgy, refractory, casting, chemical processes and chromium processes.

The corporation currently produce over 3 million tons of chrome ore and 1 million tons of ferrochrome annually.

Samancor owns 700 million tons of ferrochrome ore resources, 70 per cent of the total in South Africa and enough for at least 20 years' exploitation.

Large-scale technology renovation is underway in the corporation to increase the mechanization in mining.

"The new joint venture is a win-win project," said the Sinosteel representative. Samancor has rich chrome ore resources, and Sinosteel enjoys the advantage in technology, marketing, management and fund raising, he said.

It is not the first chrome ore project established by Sinosteel in South Africa. The company set up a joint venture with South Africa Limpopo Province Development Corporation, ASA Metals, as early as 1996. The project includes a mine with an annual output of 400,000 tons of chrome ore and a smelting plant producing 120,000 tons of ferrochrome a year.

Sinosteel is a central enterprise under the administration of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of China.

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