Zijinshan Copper-Gold Mine
Zijinshan Copper-Gold Mine
Zijinshan Copper-Gold Mine
Zijinshan Copper-Gold Mine

The Zijinshan Gold-Copper Mine is both the birthplace and a core asset of Zijin Mining. In the 1980s, Mr. Chen Jinghe, founder of Zijin Mining, discovered and measured a gold deposit overlying a large copper deposit at Zijinshan, earning China’s National Science and Technology Progress Award (First Prize). In 1993, Zijinshan embarked on a journey of low-cost, high-profit, and sustainable development. It is also a hub that nurtures Zijin Mining’s management expertise, technical capabilities, and talent across various disciplines. Through management and technological innovations, Zijinshan has not only achieved maximum recovery of gold and copper from low-grade resources but also maximized the economic and social benefits it generates. In this process, it pioneered the Five-Pronged Mining Engineering Model, an integrated approach to the technologies and processes of geological exploration, mining, processing, metallurgy, and environmental protection.

Zijinshan Copper-Gold Mine
  • Location
    Shanghang County, Longyan, Fujian Province
  • Ownership
    100%
  • Status
    In production
  • Deposit Type
    Epithermal + Porphyry
  • Resources
    Contained copper: 0.92 Mt @ 0.46%;
    Contained gold: 20.07 tonnes @ 0.1 g/t
  • Mining & processing methods
    Open-pit mining + underground mining; flotation + hydrometallurgy
  • 2025 Production
    Gold: 0.57 tonnes; Copper: 85,700 tonnes;
    Silver: 25.671 tonnes
  • Project Overview

    The Zijinshan Copper-Gold Mine is both the birthplace and a core asset of Zijin Mining. In the 1980s, Mr. Chen Jinghe, founder of Zijin Mining, discovered and measured a gold deposit overlying a large copper deposit at Zijinshan, earning China’s National Science and Technology Progress Award (First Prize). In 1993, Zijinshan embarked on a journey of low-cost, high-profit, and sustainable development, growing into a hub that nurtures Zijin Mining’s management expertise, technical capabilities, and talent across various disciplines.

    Through management and technological innovations, Zijinshan has not only achieved maximum recovery of gold and copper from low-grade resources but also maximized the economic and social benefits it generates. In this process, it pioneered the Integrated Five-Process Mining Operations Management Model, a holistic approach to the technologies and processes of geological exploration, mining, processing, metallurgy, and environmental protection.

  • Debottlenecking and expansion

    In 2025, Zijin Mining obtained official registration of a resource estimate from the Fujian Provincial Natural Resources Review Center for the newly delineated northeastern section of the Zijinshan mine. This is the largest porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit discovered in Fujian in the past 20 years, with 340 Mt of ore, containing 1.33 Mt of copper and 90,000 tonnes of molybdenum.

ESG

Zijinshan is a national pilot site for safety risk management and hazard elimination (“dual prevention mechanism”) and has been recognized as a “National Demonstration Company for Safety Culture.” It hosts the National Mine Emergency Rescue Team of Fujian Province. Guided by the principle that “green is gold”, the operation made early plans and significant investments in ecological restoration, creating a park-like green mine.

Its wastewater reuse system is integrated with a copper bioleaching process, achieving both environmental and economic benefits. The mine actively advances the use of solar, hydro, wind, and ammonia-based hydrogen power, and energy storage systems, aiming to become a model for decarbonization.

Zijinshan has been recognized as China’s largest gold mine, a national industrial tourism demonstration site, a National Mining Park, a national soil and water conservation demonstration project, a national model for comprehensive mineral resource recovery, a National Green Mine, and a National Green Plant. It also constitutes a core part of the Longyan UNESCO Global Geopark.