China mining company sets up Tibet subsidiary

Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation

China's top aluminium producer, Chinalco, has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in Tibet to explore and smelt mineral resources on the rooftop of the world.

The Chinalco Tibet Mining Co. Ltd., formally launched in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa has a registered capital of $US36.5 million.

The new company will explore, mine, smelt and sell minerals.

Chinese media reports say more than 100 minerals have been found in Tibet, and that it has the largest copper and chromium reserves in China.

Mining in Tibet has become more commercially feasible with the opening of a railway linking it to the rest of the country in 2006