BEIJING, Aug 26 (Reuter) - China will open seven more copper mines by the end of the century to help to ease domestic shortages, the China Daily said on Tuesday.

China currently produces 1.1 million tonnes of copper a year while demand is at 1.3 million tonnes, it said.

The seven projects that have won approval from the State Planning Commission include the Saishitang mine in northwestern Qinghai province that has proven reserves of 230,000 tonnes, the newspaper said.

With total investment of more than 220 million yuan ($26.51 million), the project will mine 500,000 tonnes of ore a year. It is designed to produce 6,320 tonnes of copper from concentrate and produce 40.8 kg of gold and 4,739 kg of silver a year.

Of its 66 million yuan of registered capital, the China National Non-Ferrous Metals Industry Corp (CNNC) will invest 46 million yuan, or 69.7 percent of the total. The rest will come from the local government.

The Yulong copper project in western Tibet has proven reserves of 6.5 million tonnes and involves an investment of 1.3 billion yuan.

The first phase of production will involve 500,000 tonnes of ore and the annual capacity of the mine will be 20,000 tonnes, it said.

Among the other mines, the Dongguashan mine in central Anhui province will be able to extract 31,000 tonnes of copper from concentrate.

The Ashele mine in Altay in westernmost Xinjiang province will have annual capacity of 20,000 tonnes of copper from concentrate and 10,000 tonnes of zinc from concentrate.

The expansion project at Lala in southwestern Sichuan province is expected to double daily mining capacity from the current 1,500 tonnes.

The two other copper projects are in southwestern Yunnan province and comprise the second phase of the Dahongshan mine at Yimen and the Tangdan mine in Dongchuan. The combined extraction of the two mines will be 18,000 tonnes from concentrate.