Zijin Mining Reports a Surge in Profits


The Julong copper mine in China produces 160,000 mt/y of copper. (Photo: Zijin Mining)
For the first half of 2024, Zijin Mining reported “record-breaking” performance. Guided by its new 5-year strategic plan, the Chinese company saw strong growth across its core metals portfolio, with both production volumes and prices rising. It produced 519,000 metric tons (mt) of copper, 35.4 mt of gold, 222,000 mt of zinc, and 210.3 mt of silver. Notably, copper and gold production increased by 5.3% and 9.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) respectively. Zijin’s net profit for H2 2024 surged 59.8% y-o-y to RMB 15.43 billion ($2.17 billion).

Amid rising cost pressures worldwide, Zijin said it has accelerated the development of its global operations management system, focusing on cost control in overseas projects. The company reported that the strategy has begun to pay off, with sales costs for copper and gold concentrates decreasing by 8.8% and 6.7%, respectively, from the previous half-year period.

Zijin said it enhanced its R&D structure by establishing the Central Research Institute. Notable achievements during 2024 include Zijin Copper’s New Technology for Green and Efficient Extraction of Rare and Precious Metals and Its Application, which won the Second Prize in the National Science and Technology Progress Award. The company said it also made strides in block-caving mining technology, renewable energy, and advanced materials technologies such as hydrogen fuel cells and rubidium-cesium material applications. Additionally, the research and development in copper-molybdenum separation technology at the Duobaoshan copper mine has shown promising results.

Zijin reported significant progress in expanding its resource base and production capacity. Combined copper resource additions at the Julong and Duobaoshan copper mines reached 18.3 million mt, with newly added reserves of 5.8 million mt. Exploration at the MG area in the south of the Cukaru Peki copper-gold Mine in Serbia suggests the potential for a large, high-grade copper-gold deposit. Positive developments have also been made in explorations around the Buriticá gold mine, the northeastern part of the Manono lithium mine, Norton Gold Fields, Shanxi Zijin, Xiangyuan lithium mine, and Beizhan iron ore mine.

Several key expansion projects have progressed rapidly, showcasing the “Zijin Speed.” The Phase III concentrator at the Kamoa copper mine was completed six months ahead of schedule and is expected to boost annual copper production to over 600,000 mt, making it Africa’s largest and the world’s third-largest copper mine. Other on-schedule completions include the 2.4 million mt/y mining and processing project and the 5-mt/y gold smelting project at the Sawaya’erdun gold mine in Xinjiang, China. An initiative to increase the combined annual copper production capacity of Serbia Zijin Mining and Serbia Zijin Copper to 450,000 mt is well advanced. Similarly, Julong Copper is on track to boost the annual production capacity of the first and second phases to 300,000 mt to 350,000 mt. In addition, the underground mining project at Tongshan copper mine in Heilongjiang, China, Phase I of underground mining at the Aurora gold mine in Guyana, and the construction of the “Two Lakes and Two Mines” lithium segment are progressing smoothly.

As featured in Womp 2024 Vol 09 - www.womp-int.com