Global miner Anglo American is conducting a feasibility study for a $4 billion coal-to-gas, power and chemicals project in northern China that would start in 2009, said its chairman, Mark Moody-Stuart.

The company's current capital investment in its Xiwan coal joint venture in Shaanxi Province is $300 million, he said. Anglo-American owns 60 percent of the venture with the Shaanxi Coalfields Geological Bureau, but that split could change as the project develops.

Coal would be liquefied to synthetic gas, which in turn could fuel a power plant or be converted to fuel or chemicals. Anglo-American also operates a limestone quarry in eastern China, and is exploring for platinum in the southwestern province of Sichuan. Another few years will pass before a decision will be made on whether to develop the platinum project, which would have to be sizeable to justify the investment in the remote area. "China is a critical market for platinum," Moody-Stuart said.

Source:佚名