Chinese firm to finance Papua New Guinea nickel mine

China Metallurgical Construction Group Corp, a state-owned construction company, will borrow US$1.37 billion to finance a nickel mine in Papua New Guinea, Bloomberg reported. The project, scheduled to begin operations in the first half of 2009, will produce about 31,150 metric tons of nickel and 3,300 tons of cobalt annually for 20 years. China Metallurgical Construction's Australian mining partner, Highlands Pacific, has an 8.56% stake in the project.