Britain's Raotanto Mining Company has signed a contract with the Qinqi Mining Company of northwest China's Gansu Province on cooperation in copper and nickel exploration in the Longshou Mountain in Gansu.

The British company believes that Gansu was rich in mineral resources.

It will resort to highly precision equipment to explore large copper and nickel resources in an area of over 2,000 square kilometers in the mountain.

The whole project will be carried out in four phases, with the investment in the first phase being around 5 million yuan (about US$600,000).

This has been by far Raotanto's first big exploration project in China.

(People's Daiy 03/09/2001)