Xinwen to Pay A$1.5 Billion for Australian Coal Areas

Xinwen Mining Group Ltd. agreed to buy two coal exploration permits in Australia for A$1.5 billion ($1.2 billion), becoming the latest Chinese company to buy into the nation's resources industry.

Xinwen will buy the Teresa licenses in Queensland state from Linc Energy Ltd., Brisbane-based Linc said today in a statement to the Australian stock exchange. Linc, which is seeking to develop a gas-to-liquids project in Queensland, posted a record gain in Sydney trading.

State-owned companies in China, the world's second-biggest energy consumer, plan to spend as much as A$30 billion this year buying into Australian mining and energy companies to secure resources to meet rising demand, Melbourne-based RMIT University estimates. Sinosteel Corp., China's second-largest iron ore trader, China Petrochemical Corp. and Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. are among investors in Australian resources ventures.

``This deal effectively underwrites Linc Energy's gas-to- liquids commercial aspirations over the coming years,'' Linc Managing Director Peter Bond said in today's statement.

Linc Energy advanced as much as A$1.51, or 50 percent, to A$4.56, the highest in more than two months. The shares were at A$4.26 at 2:58 p.m. local time.

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