China Minmetals Group, the country's largest state-owned metal and mineral producer and trader, reportedly has won the bid for China's second largest lanthanon base, Maoniuping lanthanon mine located in Mianning County of Sichuan province.

But no official statement has been released to date. A functionary with the Mianning County government disclosed the result will be available within two days on the government official website.

Mianning County is abundant in lanthanon, with prospected reserves up to 2.5 million tons. Of that, the Maoniuping lanthanon mine is capable of producing 27,000 tons of this kind of mineral per year, accounting for more than 40% of overall output in the county.

Founded in 1950 and listed in the World Fortune 500, China Minmetals is a large-sized group primarily engaged in the development, production, trading and operation for metals and minerals. It realized robust operating revenue of US$21.8 billion last year, coupled with a net profit of RMB 6.8 billion.

Jiangxi Copper Co<600362><358>, China's largest producer of the metal by output, is Minmetals' biggest rival in the bid, which posted operating revenue of RMB 41.28 billion and net profit of RMB 4.15 billion in 2007. – China Knowledge