SHANGHAI May.18 (CBI China)--By late May or early June 2007, Feishang Copper will begin operations at its new 60kt p.a. plant, the first phase of its 100kt p.a. copper refining project in Inner Mongolia. The new plant was originally scheduled to open in November 2006.

    GroWell believes the startup of Feishang Copper's new 60kt p.a. plant was delayed for so long because its capacity was below 100kt p.a., which is the minimum capacity size for copper expansion projects. This 100kt p.a. minimum criteria for new projects will result in significant uncertainty regarding the startup of new expansion projects.