Production of China's largest proven copper deposit will start in the Qamdo Prefecture of the country's southwest Tibet Autonomous Region next month, after two years of preparation, said a senior industry official in Tibet.

Yang Qianrang, an industrial planning official with the regional economic commission, confirmed on Thursday that a production line with an annual capacity of 10,000 tons of refined copper has been built in the Yulong Copper Mine.

The mine, with a proven deposit of 6.5 million tons of copper in ore form and prospective reserves of 10 million tons, will be the second largest in Asia.

Yang said that the Tibet Yulong Copper Co. Ltd. has finished building the basic infrastructure, as well as staff recruitment and training. It is expected to produce 2,000 tons of refined copper this year.

The first phase of construction, costing 1.8 billion yuan (US$262 million), will be finished by 2010, by which time the mine is expected to produce 30,000 tons annually, Yang said.

He said that the company hopes to expand the production capacity to 100,000 tons a year eventually.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2008)