PLATINUMWEEK-Chinese-backed Wesizwe says may look at other platinum assets

* Restructuring seen after big strike

* Chinese investors seen keen on platinum assets

* Buyers' market for S.Africa platinum mines

By Ed Stoddard

JOHANNESBURG, May 20 (Reuters) - South African platinum firm

Wesizwe, which is building a mine backed by Chinese

money, has its "ear to the ground" for a fire sale of assets

that could result from a massive industry strike.

"We would definitely look at assets and would not look a

gift horse in the mouth. We are keeping our ear very close to

the ground," Paul Smith, the chief operating officer of the

junior platinum group, told Reuters in an interview.

He stressed nothing was definite and that Wesizwe remained

focused on building its flagship Bakubung mine, which aims to

start extracting platinum in 2018 and hit full production of

around 420,000 ounces annually two years later.

But Smith said Wesizwe was "acutely aware of what is going

on around us" and that if it did have a look at assets being put

on the block, it would turn to its Chinese shareholders.

Mining (LSE: MIR.L - news) group Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) has signaled it plans to

restructure its ailing platinum unit in South Africa, with the

sale of its underperforming Rustenburg mines seen likely.

Anglo American Platinum, the world's top producer

of the precious metal, and rivals Impala Platinum (Other OTC: IMPUF - news) and

Lonmin (LSE: LMI.L - news) are in the throes of a 17-week strike in South

Africa that has cost the trio collectively almost $2 billion in

lost revenue and has been turning violent.

Restructuring and a fire-sale of mines seems almost a

certainty when the crippling strike, which Lonmin's chief

executive said on Monday was "bleeding" the company, ends.

"I cannot say anything definitive but we are not head in the

sand in terms of just building our own mine. But we are clearly

not going to rush into anything blindly," Smith said.

CHINESE THRUST

Smith said Wesizwe was restricted in terms of what it could

do as its current financial commitments were going into the

construction of Bakubung.

"So one would then look at the strategic shareholders and

that is really where decisions would be made," he said.

Wesizwe's main strategic shareholders are comprised of a

Chinese consortium headed by mining giant Jinchuan, which has a

45 percent stake in the group.

This represents the first direct Chinese thrust into

platinum production in Africa and as such marks a new chapter in

the Asian giant's scramble for resources on the continent.

Platinum is primarily used for catalytic converters in motor

engines and for jewellery. Demand for both is seen soaring in

the long run in China as its car production increases and its

burgeoning middle class demands more luxury items.

The Chinese Development Bank has provided a $650 million loan

for Wesizwe's mine project - at Libor plus 350 basis points,

which in dollar terms would be around 4 percent, far less than

what South African companies would normally expect to pay.

The one company that has strongly signaled an intention to

snap up South African platinum assets, Sibanye Gold (Berlin: 0SG.BE - news) ,

also has Chinese investment partners.

But Smith also cautioned that talk of sales was premature,

not least because it clearly is a buyer's market at the moment.

"For a big producer it's fundamentally the wrong time to

sell. You are sitting on the bottom of the cycle. You can't go

down further. You've got a metal price that's flat on its back,"

he said.

Platinum's spot price has been depressed amid low

demand and has been little moved by the South African strike -

despite the fact that it has hit 40 percent of global production

- because stocks have been perceived to be adequate. That

thinking may soon change if the stoppage continues.

"You've got your operations shut down because you have a

massive strike...To go and sell now, you're going to get nothing

for it," Smith said.

(Editing by Susan Thomas)