Steady growth in metal output
- Mined gold: 47 tonnes, up 13% year on year
- Mined copper: 534,000 tonnes (480,000 tonnes excluding attributable output from Kamoa Copper, up 4.8% year on year)
- Lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE): 44,000 tonnes, up 496% year on year
Stronger performance on value creation
- Interim dividend of RMB 11.1 billion for 2026; cash dividends over the next three years to equal 35% of aggregate distributable profit
- RMB 323 million spent on climate action, and RMB 605 million on environmental protection; revegetated 2.6 million square metres of land
- Installed clean-energy capacity of 1,146 MW; a fleet of 1,314 electric haul trucks, up 76.9% year on year
- RMB 117 million invested in rural community development
On August 21, leading global metals miner Zijin released its interim report for 2026, reporting steady growth in the production of its core metals and meaningful profit contribution from lithium, its third growth pillar.
The strong half-year results reflect the growth momentum brought by the company’s focus on technological innovation and digital, intelligent transformation, and its continued efforts in benefiting stakeholders.
The interim dividend was paid on the same day the report came out, bringing total dividends paid in calendar year 2026 to RMB 21.2 billion. As previously announced, Zijin moved the payment date forward substantially so that investors could share in its results sooner.
Maximizing Value Creation through Systematic Innovation
This year, Zijin focused on its core commodities of gold, copper and lithium while producing a range of other minerals. Drawing on its proprietary, end-to-end mining operations management model, the company has advanced major projects, several of which came on stream ahead of schedule: Julong Copper Mine’s Phase 2 expansion was commissioned; the dense-media separation plant at the Manono Lithium Mine began production in May, ahead of plan; and production continued to ramp up at the Tres Quebradas Salar, the Lakkor Tso Salar and the Xiangyuan Hard-Rock Lithium Mine.
Innovation is also driving gains in both quality and output. At Lakkor Tso, Zijin pioneered the world’s first industrial-scale application of a clean lithium extraction process, which uses titanium- and aluminum-based adsorption. Copper–molybdenum separation and sensor-based ore sorting for waste rejection were rolled out, and breakthroughs were achieved in new-materials technologies, including molten-salt electrolysis for lithium, high-end copper alloys and submicron copper powder. Together, these advances have unlocked greater value from mineral resources. Furthermore, recovery rates for associated rare and precious metals, rare and dispersed metals, as well as sulfur, continue to rise, allowing the company to capture virtually all value of by-products from its core business.
Meanwhile, digital and intelligent technologies are giving fresh meaning to the company’s commitment to innovation, expressed as “Zijin is founded on technology”.
On August 10, a vehicle launch by Zijin Longking, an equipment manufacturer controlled by Zijin, drew industry-wide attention. Following its first commercial-scale deliveries of 140-tonne battery-electric haul trucks in May, the company’s independently developed 230-tonne battery-electric truck—an ultra-large model in China—rolled off the production line. The milestone marks an important step in Zijin’s shift toward electrified, intelligent and autonomous mining.
The interim report shows that such transition is accelerating. In the first half, Zijin added nearly 400 electric haul trucks, taking its total number of electric trucks to 1,314; at its open-pit mines in China, electric models now account for more than half of the trucks in service. The company plans to replace all diesel haul trucks with electric ones within three years. Its operations are shifting from reliance on human experience to intelligent systems, with the Zhibula mine at Julong Copper due to reach fully autonomous operation by the end of September and autonomous trucks at Norton Gold Fields in routine service. These trucks operate at close to 90% of the productivity of human-driven ones.
According to data from Zijin’s China-based mines, the accounting cost per tonne-kilometre of electric trucks is roughly 29% lower than that of diesel models. Supported by Zijin Longking’s integrated green-mining solution—spanning wind and solar power, energy storage, charging and electric equipment—the shift could reshape the company’s mining cost base while advancing its decarbonization goals.
That systematic capability is also evident in the synergy with Zijin’s other businesses.
In its lithium segment, as construction of the Manono Lithium Mine in the Democratic Republic of the Congo advances, the supporting port, logistics and hydropower facilities are progressing rapidly. On July 24, Golden Voyage No. 1—the first newly built vessel by Zijin’s local logistics unit—completed its maiden shipment of lithium concentrate from the DRC to Tanzania, effectively beginning to move goods through the eastern African logistics corridor.
Sharing Benefits for Win-Win Outcomes
“Value creation and development for all” are the core values Zijin has upheld since its founding. Against the backdrop of sweeping changes unseen in a century, the company, which has joined the top tier of the global mining industry, has drawn growing attention from across society.
How will Zijin turn those values into practice, so that its growth benefits more people? At this new starting point, the company’s management has elevated the importance of ESG governance and its global win-win strategy to an unprecedented level. It continually benchmarks against leading global peers to optimize benefit-sharing mechanisms and deliver more value to its stakeholders.
According to the interim report, in the first half, Zijin initiated a program to improve performance on key ESG topics. Safety, the environment and human rights are regularly discussed and reviewed at management’s monthly meetings. The company also published its nature-related financial disclosure report, prepared in accordance with the recommendations of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD)—the first of its kind in China’s mining industry. By benchmarking against global best practices in biodiversity conservation, the company explored science-based, effective pathways for species conservation and ecological restoration, closing a gap in nature-related financial disclosure in China’s mining sector.
As Zijin expands internationally, integration into global green mining governance frameworks has become imperative. This year, the company has joined the United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s Global Alliance for Responsible and Green Minerals and signed the UN Global Compact’s “Joint Initiative of Global Enterprises on Creating a Shared, Inclusive and Sustainable Development Environment.” In terms of eco-friendly mining, three more operations in China—Julong Copper’s Zhibula Copper Mine, Longnan Zijin’s Liba Gold Mine, and Zijin Zinc’s Wulagen Lead-Zinc Mine—earned national-level green-mine status in the first half.
Guided by its decarbonization goals, Zijin also delivered strong results in low-carbon transition. In the first half, carbon-footprint management was extended to major assets: the company completed carbon-footprint accounting and certification for copper products from Julong Copper Mine’s Phase 2 project and its 150,000-tonne mining and processing project, adding practical cases to the development of a carbon-footprint database for China’s non-ferrous metals industry. During the period, roughly 42 MW of clean power generation capacity was added, bringing the company’s total to 1,146 MW. These facilities generated approximately 636 million kWh of electricity to date.
With earnings growing steadily, Zijin continues to return value to shareholders. In June, it paid RMB 10.1 billion in final dividends for 2025. In July, it announced an interim dividend of RMB 11.1 billion for 2026, with the payment date brought forward significantly, lifting total dividends for the calendar year to RMB 21.2 billion. The company also released its 2026–2028 dividend distribution plan, raising the payout ratio—aggregate cash dividends as a share of aggregate distributable profit over the three years—from 30% to 35%.
Employee incentives are also a highlight. The company will prioritize the allocation of resources to those who drive results. The interim report disclosed the launch of its 2026 Employee Stock Ownership Plan, awarding 77.4746 million shares to up to 4,500 key employees—the widest participation in any such plan in Zijin’s history. It also introduced a deferred incentive scheme: current bonuses for executive directors, senior executives and core employees are deferred and paid according to future share price performance, retaining core talent for long-term value creation. Together, these incentives are designed to ensure senior management is accountable, middle management is motivated, and frontline employees see bright prospects.
About Zijin Mining
Zijin Mining is a leading global metals and mining company and one of the world’s largest producers of gold, copper, and zinc. The company has more than 30 large-scale mining operations and projects across 19 countries on 5 continents. Leveraging strong in-house research, engineering, and development capabilities, Zijin maintains high operational efficiency and low costs in both acquisitions and operations. This enables the company to be an industry leader in value creation, underpinned by its philosophy of pursuing development for all and sustained by superior environmental, social, and governance performance. Zijin’s shares trade on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX: 2899) and the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE: 601899).