TEHRAN, July 29 (Xinhua) — Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi told Press TV on Thursday that Tehran is ready to rethink its uranium enrichment to 20 percent level if it is guaranteed that it will be supplied with fuel for its Tehran research reactor.

“We have repeatedly stated that we continue 20 percent uranium enrichment on a needs-only basis,” Salehi told the local satellite TV in a telephone interview.

“If our (nuclear fuel) needs are met through other means, we are prepared to review domestic fuel provision,” he was quoted as saying.

Western countries are pushing for multi-dimensional sanctions against Iran over its persistence on pursuing its sensitive nuclear program. Tehran insists that its nuclear program is ” peaceful” and aims at energy production for civilian use.

Related:

Iran’s FM criticizes EU for following U.S. sanction policy

TEHRAN, July 29 (Xinhua) — Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki criticized the European Union (EU) for following U.S. foreign policy in its dealings with Iran, the local satellite Press TV reported on Thursday.

“Iran is eager to expand its ties with Europe and welcomes an independent Europe in its foreign policy,” Mottaki was quoted as saying.  Full story

U.S. hopes for high-level meeting with Iran, world powers in weeks

WASHINGTON, July 28 (Xinhua) — The United States said on Wednesday that it hoped to hold high-level meetings in the coming weeks with Iran and other five world powers in an effort to ease international concerns over Iran’s nuclear program.

“We hope to have the same kind of meeting in the coming weeks that we had last October,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said, referring to meetings last year in Geneva in which world powers proposed and urged Iran to accept a nuclear fuel swap deal.

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BEIJING – Zijin Mining Group, China’s biggest gold producer, will reduce production after being instructed to do so by the local government in Fujian, where the company is based.

The decision is expected to cut the company’s gold output by 1 ton this year, according to a company statement filed the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Statistics show Zijin produced 75.37 tons of gold in 2009, up 31.05 percent from the previous year.

Shanghang County government made the decision to limit the company’s output to a level that can ensure environmental safety.

On July 4, around 9,000 cubic meters of toxic waste water spilled from a blown-out sewage tank at a Zijin copper plant into the Tingjiang River in Fujian province, killing thousands of fish.

The decision to restrict gold output will not severely hurt the gold producer’s earnings this year, analysts said. However, the price tag for the clean-up may cast a shadow on the firm’s future performance.

Zijin Mining’s A shares rose 2.45 percent to end at 5.86 yuan on Wednesday after a two-day suspension. The gold miner’s share price dropped 2 percent since the spill was revealed to the public in mid-July.

“Its profit may be cut by 200 million yuan resulting from the gold output reduction, which is very slight if compared with its total asset size,” said Zhu Lida, an analyst at Northeast Securities.

Zijin Mining realized a 3.5 billion yuan net profit in 2009 with total assets of 29.6 billion yuan. Its gold business contributed 73.6 percent to the company’s overall net profit last year.

The output restriction is better than “an overall production shutdown” previously handed down by the Fujian Provincial Department of Environment Protection.

“The impact of the output limit on the nation’s gold prices is also negligible, even though the company’s total gold output is large,” said Zhu.

Zijin accounted for 24 percent of the nation’s total gold production in 2009.

However, market jitters remain due to uncertainties over a possible government penalty on Zijin over the spill.

“We’re not sure how much Zijin will spend on environment protection efforts after the accident, and the penalty is pending.

Therefore, it’s still too early to predict how the spill will affect the company’s earnings,” said Fan Haibo, an analyst from Cinda Securities.

Implicated officials from the affected county and Zijin Mining were dismissed after the spill.

The company may also face compensation claims for fishing losses in the area, but the specific penalty has yet to determined by the Fujian provincial government.

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Water sluice down at Three Gorges Dam, central China’s Hubei Province, July 28, 2010. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

YICHANG, July 28 (Xinhua) — China’s Three Gorges Dam was tested for the second time this month when the swiftest water flow of the year hurtled down the swollen Yangtze River on Wednesday morning.

Flow rates as high as 56,000 cubic meters per second were recorded at the dam at 8 a.m. Wednesday, dam engineers said.

The dam withstood the flow with a water discharge rate of 40,000 cubic meters per second, meaning 16,000 cubic meters of water per second accumulated in the reservoir behind the dam.

The safety monitoring results of the dam during the second flood peak have met engineers’ predictions to prove its ability to contain flood waters, said Cao Guangjing, chairman of the China Three Gorges Corporation.

The water level in the reservoir had risen to 158 meters at 8 a.m.Wednesday, about 17 meters below its maximum capacity of 175 meters.

Officials expect the water level to rise to 161.5 meters Friday, a spokesman with the Yangtze River hydrology bureau said Wednesday.

Continuous downpours in recent weeks have raised water levels in the upper reaches of the Yangtze.

Water flows on the river’s upper reaches reached 70,000 cubic meters per second on July 20 — the highest level since the dam was completed last year and 20,000 cubic meters more than the flow during the 1998 floods that killed 4,150 people.

Ship traffic through the dam resumed last Thursday after the first peak flow passed. But shipping was halted again at 10 p.m. Tuesday as the second round of floodwaters approached.

After shipping service was suspended, a road near the dam was opened for vehicles to transport goods and people across the dam.

Security personnels patrol at a power plant near the Three Gorges Dam, central China’s Hubei Province, July 28, 2010. A flood peak with water flux of 56000 cubic meters per second reached the Three Gorges Dam at 8 o’clock Wednesday morning. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)

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