Economic Observer Online
July 3, 2012
By Jia Huajie (贾华杰)
Translated by Zhu Na
Original article: [Chinese]

Construction work on a molybdenum-copper refinery in Shifang (什邡), a city in southwestern Sichuan province, was halted by the local government after residents took to the streets to oppose the development.

The Shifang local government posted an offical announcement to their website on July 2 which noted that "some segments of the local population have expressed different views on the molybdenum-copper project of Hongda Group (宏达集团)."

The announcement went on to say that "in order to ensure overall social stability," the local government had decided to instruct the Shanghai-listed company Sichuan Hongda Co., Ltd. to stop work on construction of the refinery.

A commencement ceremony to mark the start of work on the 10 billion yuan development, which is said to have already won approval from the central environmental protection ministry, was held in Shifang on June 29.

On the evening of July 1 at around 7pm, crowds gathered at the entrance of the Shifang government buildings and also at the nearby Hongda Square calling for a halt to work on the project.

Sichuan Hongda is one of China's biggest zinc and lead producers and had initially planned to complete construction of the refining plant in 2015.

On completion, the plant was expected to achieve annual production capacity of 400,000 tonnes of copper cathodes and 40,000 (contained metal) tonnes of molybdenum metal. The annual output of sulphuric acid from the project is expected to total 1.8 million tons, while 10 tons gold and 500 tons of silver will also be produced every year.

The annual sales income from the project was expected to reach 50 billion yuan, producing annual profits and tax payments of more than 4 billion yuan.

Links and Sources
Sichuan News Net: 四川什邡群众反对钼铜项目冲击市委遭特警驱散
Shifang Government Announcement: 关于钼铜项目建设有关情况的通告