outh China Resources said Tuesday that its joint venture, the Shang Luo City Zhongbei Minerals and Metal Development Co., had received both the business licence and the new exploration licence required to progress the development of the Danfeng copper-molybdenum project, based in Shaanxi province, China.

South China Resources currently holds a 70% beneficial interest in the joint venture, while the its partner Shaanxi Zhongbei Mining Development company holds the remaining 30%.

South China Resources has now completed all procedural matters that are required following the establishment of a joint venture in China, the company said.

The Danfeng Project is a medium tonnage, comparatively high-grade, mineralized skarn porphyry related system, the company said, adding that drilling was underway to take the previously reported resource to JORC standards.

The near-surface mineralization is ultra-high-grade, with molybdenum grades regularly in excess of 3% and copper grades regularly in excess of 4%, South China Resources said, noting that these molybdenum grades are 20 times higher than the global mined average.

South China Resources also has a strategic landmark agreement in place with the Xi'an Institute for Geology and Mineral Resources to evaluate a 206.73-sq-km area which includes the Lingkou copper-molybdenum region in Luonan County, Shaanxi province.