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Mining giant MIM has sold its ISASMELT technology to Yunnan Metallurgical Group, bringing total sales of technology to China to $40 million. Yunnan Metallurgical Group, a major Chinese company, will use the technology in a series of new copper and lead-zinc smelters being built in China. "This is the culmination of two years of negotiation," Premier Peter Beattie says. "I congratulate MIM on its efforts." Beattie says his government played a constructive role getting MIM this foothold in China. "Staff in our senior trade division in the Department of State Development helped broker meetings with senior government officials so that MIM could present its technology to the appropriate decision makers. "MIM's expansion into China is an excellent example of Queensland's innovative spirit with one of our oldest and most traditional industries using smart state thinking to give it the edge in the 21st century," he says.