A Chinese company has agreed to build three power facilities in Tajikistan worth $30 million in exchange for mineral rights in a sector of the Pamir Mountains.

Tebian Electric Apparatus (TBEA), based in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, says it will build a thermoelectric plant in Dushanbe, a hydroelectric station on the Hingob River, and reconstruct a transformer plant in Kurgan-Tepe, the Interfax news agency reported February 19.

TBEA has also contracted to build transmission lines in Tajikistan. The entity currently employs 2,200 local workers. All of TBEA's projects in Tajikistan are projected to be finished within two years, according to company officials.

Details concerning the precise location and the extent of the mineral rights obtained by TBEA were not immediately released. Chinese sources indicated that the company gained access to deposits of gold, silver, copper, tungsten, mica and gem stones.