China's largest iron mining industry company, which is located in the northeastern province of Liaoning, would double its annual production in the coming decade, sources with Angang Steel Group said Thursday.

The iron mining company, which is a subsidiary of the Angang group, will achieve the goal through a mine upgrading and expansion project that has been approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The project will cost 14.7 billion yuan (US$2.15 billion), which is all to be raised by the Angang Group itself.

Angang's iron mining company, with six open-cut mines and an underground mine, is now capable of producing 45 million tonnes of iron ores a year.

The company plans to double the production to 92 million tonnes by 2010.

Anshan and Liaoyang areas, where the steel group is located, boasts verified iron ore deposits of more than 8.8 billion tonnes, or 13.04 percent of China's total.

(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2010)