It is reported that Sichuan Province is offering to sell an 80% stake in Hui-Dong Lead & Zinc Mine for RMB 2.04 billion to any state-owned or state-controlled enterprise with a registered capital exceeding RMB 1 billion and net assets exceeding RMB 2 billion.

The buyer must make a lump sum payment. Buyers that have gone into debt at any time in the past three years are not eligible.

An senior officer of the bureau of commerce in Huidong County, Liangshan, Sichuan Province, predicted that Western Mining Co Ltd, which last year inked a cooperative agreement with the local government to develop lead zinc ore in Huidong, will probably buy the asset.

Hui-Dong Lead & Zinc Mine, which was established in 1958 with a registered capital of RMB 50.92 million, had 11.56 million tons of ore as of Jan. 30, 2009, including 1.14 million tons of zinc and 88,000 tons of lead.

It was reported from NEW YORK on 19 February that the base metals complex ended its gangbuster week in solidly positive territory on Friday, with some metals logging double-digit gains on the back of improved market sentiment and rising inflation pressures.

Lead recorded the biggest gain, soaring 10.4 percent over the course of the week to close second-ring trade on the London Metal Exchange at $2,319 per tonne on Friday. Nickel and zinc also registered sizable weekly gains, climbing 9.8 percent and 7.5 percent to $20,300/$20,310 (bid/ask) and $2,290 per tonne, respectively.

Copper was up 6.6 percent week-on-week at $7,223 per tonne, while March futures prices on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 8.9 percent to close at $3.357 per pound vs. $3.0825 one week earlier.

Tin was up 4.6 percent on the week to close.