China Western Mining says 2008 net down 67 pct

Western Mining Co (601168.SS), China's second-largest lead miner, said on Tuesday its net profit plunged 67 percent in 2008 to 570 million yuan ($83.4 million).

Revenue rose 45 percent from a year earlier to 12.6 billion yuan in 2008, the company said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The collapse in nonferrous metal prices due to the global financial crisis caused the sharp fall in the company's profit, despite its trading business contributing to higher revenues, the statement said.

The average price of zinc concentrate, for example, fell 55 percent from a year earlier, and prices of copper concentrate were down 10 percent, the company said.

Western Mining, in which a unit of Goldman Sachs (GS.N) holds a 3.1 percent stake, said it planned to produce 57,000 tonnes of crude and electrolytic lead in 2009, nearly three times its 2008 output.

It also plans to produce 35,000 tonnes of copper cathode and 98,000 tonnes of primary aluminium this year. ($1=6.839 Yuan)

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