Published by: World Tibet Network News, Wednesday January 31, 1996

By Conrad Richter

TORONTO, January 30, CTC -- Baiyu County, on the border between Sichuan and the Tibet Autonomous Region, is the target of an economic development program to meant to control ethnic unrest. A Canadian company, Breckenridge Resources Ltd. of British Columbia, has signed an agreement in principle with the Chinese government to develop a silver and base metals mine in the village of Xiacun, an area largely populated by Tibetans.

According to Steve Jackson, Vice-President of Investor Relations for Breckenridge Resources, the government is "pushing hard" to develop the area in order to "keep the peace" in the face of increasing Chinese migration. Despite the government's express social and political goals for the area, the company is not concerned about possible disruption due to unrest, according the Mr Jackson.

In addition to the mine, the project includes a mill and a hydroelectric plant which will be constructed for a total cost of US$86 million. The average annual production is expected to be 118 tonnes of silver, 5,895 ounces of gold, 42,650 tonnes of zinc, 26,075 tonnes of lead and 4,650 tonnes of copper.

The payback of capital is expected to be a "very rapid" 1.9 years according to a company press release, and the project is expected to run 15 years. Final discussions on taxation and infrastructure are underway with local, provincial and national governments according to Mr Jackson.

Once a final agreement is in place, the project is expected to proceed rapidly. Xiacun is accessible by road, as there are "60 to 80 logging trucks an hour passing through now," Mr Jackson said.

The project is the first for Breckenridge in China, although its Chairman, Peter Lin, an ethnic Chinese from Singapore with family roots in Sichuan Province, has worked on hydroelectric projects worth over $40 million in the past.