China Aiming to Speed Zinc, Lead Market Consolidation

Reuters reported that China plans to place minimum production requirements and energy consumption levels on its lead and zinc mines. The move is aimed at speeding up consolidation in those sectors.

As quoted in the market news:

New small mines must have a minimum output of 100,000 tonnes per annum and a production life of more than 10 years, while medium-sized mines need to have annual production of about 300,000 tonnes, according to a document published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The draft regulation also requires new mines to have higher technological standards and has set limits on coal consumption for underground mining and smelting of lead and zinc.

Click here to read the full Reuters report.