China Zhongsheng Resources Holdings Limited Aquires 95% of Equity Interests of Luxing Tianium

Friday, 8 February 2013, 09:13 HKT/SGT

Seeking Growth Opportunities Through Proactive Change in Pursuit of Dual Iron-titanium Development Strategy and Optimized Product Structure with Major Breakthroughs into the Titanium Concentrate Market, and Effective Expansion of Ilmenite Capacities

HONG KONG, Feb 8, 2013 - (ACN Newswire) - China Zhongsheng Resources Holdings Limited ("Zhongsheng Resources" or the "Company", stock code: 2623) is pleased to announce that, Shandong Ishine entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement on 19 December 2012 to acquire 95% of the equity interests of Luxing Titanium at a consideration of RMB20.9 million (the "Acquisition"). The Acquisitions expected to be completed in February 2013. According to the condition of renewal of mining permits, Zhongsheng Resources intends to rely on the resources and capacity, to cautious actively expand the Company's development and processing capacity, and to vigorously develop ferrotitanium mining and processing capacity to actively enter into ilmenite concentrate market, therefore to enrich the product mix of the company which will built a solid foundation for Improvements of profitability.

According to the assessment by the Valuer, the market value of the mining right of the Luxing Titanium Ilmenite Mine amounted to approximately RMB260 million as at 30 September 2012. Luxing Titanium possesses a processing line with processing capacity of 1.2Mtilmenite ores per annum, and obtained a new mining licence with an approved annual mining production scale of 1.5 Mt. The term of the mining license is 9 years expiring in December 2021.

After completion of the Acquisition, the Group intends to invest a total sum of approximately RMB3.8 million into a technology improvement plan. The said technology improvement plan will enlarge the annual processing capacity of ilmenite ores of the processing line of the Luxing Titanium Ilmenite Mine as well as enable the processing line to process the tailings with titanium content currently possessed by Luxing Titanium. The Group intends to complete the said technology improvement plan by May2013 and upon completion, the annual processing capacity for ilmenite ores of the processing line of Luxing Titanium Ilmenite Mine will be increased to approximately 1.5Mt ilmenite ores, which will allow the Group to produce approximately 100,000 tonnes of 57% iron concentrates and approximately 16,000 tonnes of 46% titanium concentrates per annum and the processing capacity for tailings of the said processing line will allow the Group to produce approximately 20,000 tonnes of 46% titanium concentrates per annum.

After completing the aforementioned expansion plans, Zhongsheng Resources Limited will acheive the annual capacity and annual production as :

Annual Capacity

Yangzhuang Iron Mine:           2.3Mt iron ore
Zhuge Shangyu Ilmenite Mine:    1.5Mt titanium iron ore
Qinjiazhuang Ilmenite Project:  1.5Mt titanium iron ore
Luxing Titanium Ilmenite Mine:  1.5Mt titanium iron ore;
                                and Tailings processing line

Annual Production

Yangzhuang Iron Mine:           0.37Mt 65% titanium concentrates
Zhuge Shangyu Ilmenite Mine:    0.06Mt 57% concentrates; 
                                and 0.06Mt of 46% titanium concentrates
Qinjiazhuang Ilmenite Project:  1.5Mtof 20%-30% titanium concentrates
Luxing Titanium Ilmenite Mine:  0.1Mt 57% iron concentrates;
                                and 0.36 Mt 46% titanium concentrates

Furthermore, as at the date of this announcement, the net proceeds received by the Company from the IPO were approximately HK$129.3 million of which approximately HK$110.7 million had remained unused as at the date of this announcement. As to the depression of Iron ore concentrate market in 2012, the board and management has pertinently decided to alter the use of the funds raised based on the change of global and domestic market, in order to provide better return to investors. The proposed use of such IPO proceeds as provided in the Prospectus and the amount utilised for such use up to the date of this announcement, the unutilised amount as at the date of this announcement and the amount to be reallocated to: (1) commencement of operation of Zhuge Shangyu Ilmenite Mine; (2) commencement of the Qinjiazhuang Ilmenite Project; (3) technology improvement plan to increase annual processing capacity of Luxing Titanium Ilmenite Mine; and (4) general working capital.

Mr. Geng Guohua, Executive Director and COO, said, 'China is bound to build a large number of coal-fired and nuclear power stations in the coming years to solve its energy challenges, as well as invest heavily into sea water desalinization given the severe water shortage in its coastal cities. Robust demands from those key sectors will support the sustained expansion of market volumes for Titanium products. As China rises to become the world's second largest Titanium market second only to the US in the near future, it will demonstrate market characteristics similar to Japan where non-aviation civil use dominates, rather than the US where Titanium alloy for aviation use takes up over 50% of market share.'

Nevertheless, as China embarks upon autonomous manufacturing of large civil aircrafts and new models of fighter jets, demand for aviation-grade titanium with rise continuously. Large civil aircrafts and 4th-generation fighter jets are manufactured with 10-20 kinds of hi-performance titanium alloys in varieties ranging from rods, plates, tubes, cast products and fasteners. China's need for a powerful blue-sea Navy would also underscore titanium's essential use. On top of this, titanium is used for civil purposes in large quantities in the chemical, metallurgical and power industries as structural materials for pressurized vessels, as well as daily necessities ranging from sports and recreational goods, medical and human implant materials, to eyeglass rims and arts and crafts, giving the material tremendous market potentials.

China Zhongsheng Resources Limited is optimistic towards the Titanium market. By targeted periodic composition, we expect the company to further promote the processing capacity of iron ore. In 2013, Luxing Titanium Ilmenite Mine will able to produce approximately 100,000 tonnes of 57% iron concentrates and approximately 30,000 tonnes of 46% titanium concentrates, Zhuge Shangyu Ilmenite Mine will be able to produce approximately 40,000 tonnes of 57% iron concentrates and approximately 40,000 tonnes of 46% titanium concentrates, and Qinjiazhuang Ilmenite Project will be able to produce approximately 100,000 tonnes of 20%-30% titanium concentrates. The recent business expansion will be beneficial for the group to implement business strategy and to enhance financial strength. Zhongsheng Resources will fully exploit the opportunity emerge from the recovery of macroeconomics and the demand of national aviation and space industries, to optimize investment and production decision, in order to strive for steady and quality return to shareholders.

About China Zhongsheng Resources Holdings Limited

Headquartered in Shandong Province, the PRC, China Zhongsheng Resources Holdings Limited is the largest private-owned iron ore producer in Shandong. It is principally engaged in iron and ilmenite ore exploration, iron ore mining and iron ore processing to produce iron concentrates, and sell products directly to iron pellets or steel manufacturers. With a strong historical growth performance record, significant iron and titanium ore reserves, and stable relationship with reputable customers, we are prepared to seize every opportunity to expand our business to titanium ore with the guarantee of iron business. The company greatly concern about environmental protection and governance. In March 2011, we were selected as the first batch of "State Green Mining Pilot Units" by the Ministry of Land and Resources, which is one of the only five ferrous metal mines obtaining this honor. In October 2009, we were accredited with Safety Standard Second Grade Corporation Certificate issued by Shandong Province Administration of Work Safety.

Topic: Production report Sectors: Metals & Mining, Daily Finance
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