The Yunnan Tin Company has approved a Yuan 2.6 billion (US$375 million) investment plan to expand production from the Wenshan Dulong zinc-indium-tin-copper mine by some 70%, it was reported in a statement filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on January 11.
The expansion will include the construction of new dump sites, a tailings dam and waste rock recycling facilities, which will increase mining capacity to 3.6 Mtpa. Operations at Dulong are run by YTC’s subsidiary, Yunnan Hualian, which currently manages a 2.1 Mtpa mining operation and an 8,000 tpd ore dressing plant at the site.
ITRI View: Yunnan Hualian is an important tin mine production base for YTC, besides its major operations near Gejiu. Tin mine production in Hualian was 6,500t in 2016, three times greater than in 2012. The production increase has mainly been due to upgrades of the technology facility and the operation of a new large scale processing plant. Tin mine production in Hualian is expected to climb to 8,000tpy over the next few years.
