A Myanmar and China joint venture has been granted permission to build a USD 50 million metal refinery in Loikaw, the capital of Kayah State. According to an article in the Myanmar Times, the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) approved Global South Industrial Company (GSIC) for a project that will provide up to 500 jobs in the state. The article didn’t name what companies the joint-venture is between. According to the article, GSIC currently operates a tin-tungsten mine close to the Kayah-Shan state border. The deposits of the mine will be transported to the refinery once it is operational, before being exported to China. A Kayah State DICA official said, the refinery will add value to the mining operations in the state as refined metals were more valuable and fetch higher prices than raw ones. Five companies have collaborations with the state-owned enterprise No. 2 Mining Enterprise in Kayah State, with GSIC among them. A total of 400 tonnes has been produced from October 2018 to June 2019.
