The state-owned Minmetals Corp, the most powerful mining group in continental China, has been announced as a possible buyer of Falconbridge, the company that operates the nickel and iron mine in Bonao. The US$5-billion price tag represents one of the largest investments of the Chinese company outside of its borders. The Listin Diario says that Minmetals was founded 50 years ago and in 2003, according to Wall Street Journal figures, had an income of US$11.7 billion. Noranda, the Falconbridge parent company, put itself on the market earlier this year after Branscan Corp, a 42% shareholder, said it wanted to get out of mining. The purchase of Noranda seems to have been a good deal, according to the WSJ, as Brazilian mining giant and operator of the largest mining enterprise in the world, the CVDR Company, had expressed its interest in Noranda if talks with the Chinese should break down. Falconbridge has been the prime employer in Bonao for over thirty years and major contributor to the municipal treasury through the Falconbridge Foundation.