SHANGHAI (Bloomberg) -- Yunnan Copper Industry Co., China's third-biggest producer of the metal, said first-half profit may have doubled after the purchase of mining assets from its parent.

Net income probably rose between 50 percent and 100 percent from 488.3 million yuan (64 million dollars) a year earlier, Yunnan Copper said in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange Saturday. Yunnan Copper last year sold 500 million shares valued at about 4 billion yuan to parent Yunnan Copper Group and other institutional investors in exchange for four mines and a plant from the parent to expand the production of refined copper. Economic growth in China, the world's biggest consumer of copper, has boosted demand for the metal used in pipes and power generators. Copper futures have gained 25 percent on the New York Mercantile Exchange so far this year. Yuan-denominated shares of Yunnan Copper have almost quadrupled on the Shenzhen stock market this year, compared with the 87 percent gain in the benchmark CSI 300 Index