BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Beijing Songshanheli Mining Investment Co. Ltd, a private Chinese mining company, is pleased to announce the signing of a joint venture agreement with Jinchuan Mining (JNMC) for a strategically located group of prospecting licenses in northwestern Tanzania.

The project encompasses an area of approximately 4,200 square kilometers within the Kabanga Nickel Belt and is subject to a royalty agreement with Tanzanian Royalty Exploration.

In March 2009, Beijing Songshanheli was granted an option to acquire Tanzanian Royalty's interest in the Kabanga nickel licenses, subject to a 30-year 3% net smelter royalty in favour of Tanzanian Royalty. The subsequent agreement with Jinchuan will see the licenses explored and developed on a joint venture basis, with Jinchuan being the Project operator.

According to Li Songshan, Beijing Songshanheli’s Chairman, "The joint venture brings together a complimentary set of skills that are certain to deliver positive results in the coming years. In addition, we stand to benefit from Tanzanian Royalty's outstanding reputation in Tanzania and will follow their lead in modeling our business practices to deliver meaningful benefits to the Tanzanian people."

Exploration work on the Kabanga nickel licenses is expected to begin in early 2010, with Tanzanian Royalty providing advisory, logistical, and related assistance to Jinchuan and Songshan in several key areas including government relations, license maintenance, corporate filings and the importing of heavy equipment

China’s friendship with Tanzania extends back many decades and its involvement in the east African nation encompasses a wide range of industries including construction, mining and farming. The mutual respect generated by this long association and the joint venture’s increasingly close relationship with Tanzanian Royalty will no doubt facilitate the entry of the two Chinese companies into the Tanzanian economy which ranks among the fastest growing on the African continent.

Jinchuan Group Limited (JNMC), the parent company of Jinchuan Mining, is a large integrated non-ferrous metallurgical and chemical engineering enterprise engaged in mining, concentrating, metallurgy and chemical engineering. It produces nickel, copper, cobalt, rare and precious metals and also some chemical products such as sulfuric acid, caustic soda, liquid chlorine, hydrochloric acid and sodium sulfite, together with some further processed nonferrous metals products. The group’s output of nickel and platinum group metals respectively accounts for more than 90% of Chinese production.

Jinchuan Group is situated in Jinchang, an industrial city in the eastern portion of the Hexi Corridor of Gansu Province. It is the largest producer of nickel and cobalt in China and its namesake is honored as the Nickel City of China.