News

July 08, 2008

Mountain High, Emperor Far Away: The Many Faces Of Chinese Mining

By Alastair Ford

If you look around the world, it’s an undeniable trend: the Chinese are coming. In many cases they’ve already arrived. They’re arriving in sub-Saharan Africa by the plane-load. They’re busy on the ground in South America. They’re the only ones brave enough to invest in Afghanistan. There’s a distinct possibility there might be a move on some Iranian assets fairly shortly. Along the Amur River in the Far East, the lights shine far more brightly on the Chinese side than on the Russian.

The Chinese have billions of dollars to spend, and with the dollar inexorably declining in value, they’re not shy about getting out and spending it. But which Chinese are we talking about exactly? There’s a bewildering array of Chinese mining companies, institutes, brigades, and other quasi and actual government bodies doing business with western companies. And it’s not always clear exactly who they are, who controls them, or who they represent, especially since some are shy, some are cautious,...