Inco sets up new RI venture

Inco sets up new RI venture

TORONTO (AFP): Canadian-based Inco Limited and Japan's Dowa Mining announced Tuesday that they have entered a joint venture for copper, zinc, gold and silver exploration in Turkey and Indonesia.

Inco said that one of its subsidiaries, Dardanel Mining Industry and Commerce, holds properties in northeastern Turkey under a lease agreement with Black Sea Copper Works.

These properties are considered to have a high potential for mineral deposits, the company said.

Through its subsidiaries Ingold Holdings Indonesia and Maluku Holdings, Inco holds an 85 percent interest in the rights to approximately 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) on the minerals- rich Indonesian islands of Haruku, Ambon, Nusa Laut and Saparua.

Dowa can earn up to 49 percent from Dardanel in Turkey and Maluku Holdings in Indonesia by contributing exploration funding over two years to the Turkish properties and three years to the Indonesian ones.

Inco is a leading producer of nickel, copper, precious metals and cobalt.