Graphite jointly produced by the two Koreas in the North is likely to enter the South for the first time ever possibly by as early as within the year.

Korea Resources Corporation President Park Yang-soo said Thursday that the development would mark the first fruits of inter-Korean cooperation efforts in mineral resources.

Park added that he will visit the North on Sunday to fine-tune details for a ceremony marking the completion of a graphite mine in the North, including the date of the ceremony and ways to run the mine.

According to Park, once the mine enters full operation, around three-thousand tons of graphite will be produced every year with 18-hundred tons to enter the South for the next 15 years.

That amount is likely to supply 20 percent of the South’s demand for the mineral resource, saving some 670 million won in import costs.

The potential value of mineral resources in the North is estimated to be around 22-hundred trillion won, 24 times that of the South.