Zijin News - On 15 October, Zijin Mining released its Q3 financial report. In the first three quarters of 2021:
l Revenue reached RMB 169 billion, up 30% YOY and coming close to the group’s total revenue last year;
l Earnings totaled RMB 18.4 billion, up 149% YOY;
l Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company stood at RMB 11.3 billion, up 147% YOY, a record high; and
l Operating cash flow was RMB 17.8 billion, up 80% YOY.
Early this year, Zijin Mining announced its Five-Year (2+3) Plan and 2030 Development Goals, blueprints for its development towards an international mining giant powered by technology and profitability.
With metal prices running high in the first three quarters, Zijin worked actively to boost production, delivering year-on-year increases in both the output and sales of its main mineral products.
During the period, Zijin produced 34.5 tonnes of mined gold, 408,000 tonnes of mined copper, 285, 000 tonnes of mined zinc, 233.6 tonnes of mined silver, and 2.794 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate. Consolidated gross margins of its mining affiliates rose by 12 percentage points year on year to nearly 60%.
Meanwhile, the group’s comprehensive in-house capabilities in R&D, engineering and implementation have ensured that projects advance rapidly at “Zijin speed”.
Major financial metrics of the company continued to grow at explosive rates, thanks to rises in the production and prices of its main mineral products, and the commissioning of world-class mining projects. Zijin’s output and profits of gold and copper from overseas projects overtook those of its domestic projects for the first time, a new milestone in the group’s international expansion.
Kamoa-Kakula’s Phase-1 3.8 Mtpa processing plant was put into operation in May 2021, with its 2021 guidance for contained copper in concentrate revised upward to between 85,000 to 95,000 tonnes. The construction of its Phase-2 3.8 Mtpa processing plant is now far ahead of schedule. Following the plant’s commissioning in Q2 2022, Kamoa-Kakula’s annual output of contained copper will double, to reach 400,000 tonnes.
The Upper Zone of the Čukaru Peki gold mine entered trial production in June 2021 and it obtained permits for all its facilities on October 12. The project is now transitioning to operation and production stage, while research for the Lower Zone of the mine has picked up pace.
Serbia Zijin Copper has completed the construction and hot commissioning of the 40,000 t/d processing plant of its Majdanpek (MS) mine. The mine will see its ore processing capacity rise to 13.2 million tonnes from 6.6 million tonnes after it reaches designed capacity, adding 22,000 tonnes of contained copper and 800 kilograms of contained gold to its production every year. The 40,000 t/d concentrator plant of the Veliki Krivelj mine, whose construction is 85% completed, is scheduled for commissioning in Q1 2022.
With their construction progressing smoothly, the Phase-1 mining and processing projects of Tibet Julong Copper are expected to commence production by the end of 2021.
In October, Zijin announced that it will acquire a world-class, high-grade lithium brine project for RMB 5 billion, in a bid to tap into strategic new energy minerals and foster new areas of growth for its business.