Reuters reported that production at Ramu nickel cobalt project in Papua New Guinea, China’s single-largest mining investment in the country, will reach its full capacity in one or two years, slightly later than initially planned, an official at the project's major partner said on Wednesday.

The USD 1.5 billion Ramu project, which began operations last week, will be able to produce 31,150 tonnes of nickel and 3,300 tonnes of cobalt a year for at least 20 years.

An official at the investor relations office at the Metallurgical Corp of China said the project's production would reach full capacity in the next one to two years. He declined to be identified because he is not allowed to speak the media.

The project's minority partner Highlands Pacific said last year the project was expected to be operating at maximum capacity by mid- to end 2013.

The project started a trial run in March, and had produced 4,526 tonne of nickel and 418 tonne of cobalt by the end of November.

A Chinese consortium lead by Ramu Nico Management Limited owns 85% in the project. Australia’s Highlands Pacific holds an 8.56% stake, with the rest held by the Papua New Guinea government.

The mine project has been delayed by local protesters' appeal over plans to dump waste into the Bismarck Sea and security issues.

The project is operated by MCC on behalf of all joint venture parties.