Aim-listed zinc hopeful Griffin Mining is applying to the Chinese authorities next month for a licence to develop its Caijiaying prospect 200 km from Beijing, while its 4 per cent-owned Taiwanese betting ally Ozmosa prepares for an Aim float in the first quarter of next year. Robert Tyerman reports.

Mladen Ninkov, Australian chairman of Griffin Mining (GFM), says the company hopes to have converted its present exploration licence into a full mining licence by Christmas. Griffin, which has completed a $3 million (£2.1 million) equity fundraising at 3.5p, is in the process of arranging a further £5 million debt financing through Endeavour Financial Corp (formerly Yorkton).

Once this loan has been repaid, Griffin's share in Caijiaying will fall from 80 per cent to 40 per cent, with Chinese interests holding the rest. Ninkov says the company's initial target there is 1.5 million tonnes of zinc ore ? on a project which he reckons could contain 50 million tonnes of 5 per cent zinc sulphide ore, with, it is suggested, potentially many times that once further exploration is completed.

Griffin estimates cash costs of production of $625 a tonne, helped by local labour costs put at only $20 a tonne. This compares with a current recession-hit price of around $768 for a metal which in more normal times trades between $1,100 and $1,300 and can spurt in booms to around $1,800.

The company, which receives useful local tax breaks while it is developing the Caijiaying prospect, argues that there has been so little exploration and development in recent years that an eventual zinc price upturn could produce a profitable squeeze in the country. Ninkov, a former London head of corporate finance at ANZ Grindlays in London and managing director of Maxwell Central and East European Partners, says the Chinese are offering a stream of mining propositions for Griffin to consider.

The company also has a 4 per cent earned interest in Ozmosa, a Taiwanese sports, games and internet betting outfit where Britain's Sportingbet (SBT) has paid £1 million for 1 per cent and has a £25 million option on another 25 per cent. Ninkov says Ozmosa is already turning over £8 million a month and has applied for the only soccer betting licence being issued by the Chinese government.

The current game plan is for Ozmosa to seek admission to Aim in the first three months of next year. This would be in time to impress upon the market how geographically well placed it could be to cash in on betting on the 2002 soccer World Cup, which is being staged in Japan and South Korea.

In the six months to June, Griffin reduced its interim loss from $244,000 to $194,000. The shares, which topped 20p at the beginning of last year, now languish at 4.75p.