Zijin News - With several of its major copper projects beginning production since 2021, Zijin Mining has made significant strides in profitability and cash flow. As a result, credit rating agencies have further upgraded Zijin’s credit ratings this year.

The latest credit ratings of Zijin are: BBB- by Standard & Poor, BBB- by Fitch Ratings, BBBg by China Chengxin (Asia Pacific), AAA by both China Chengxin International and China Lianhe, all with a stable outlook.

As indicated by Standard & Poor and Fitch in their statements on Zijin’s credit ratings, there is good visibility of future growth for Zijin, thanks to the commencement of production or expansion of its key mining operations, such as the Čukaru Peki copper and gold mine and the Bor copper mine in Serbia, the Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the DRC, and the Julong copper mine in Tibet.

They also suggested that driven by higher production volume of mined copper and gold, low costs, and robust prices in the global commodity markets, Zijin will continue to generate strong operating cash flow, which can support the company’s higher capital expenditure and keep its the debt-to-EBITDA ratio low.

Zijin has also expanded to battery metals, including lithium, and diversified product offerings support Zijin’s business strength.

Zijin hired international rating agencies such as Standard & Poor’s, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s and was awarded investment-grade ratings in 2018, when it was seeking to issue US dollar-dominated bonds overseas. In April 2022, given that all of such bonds have matured and were repaid, Zijin reviewed its need for international credit ratings and applied to Moody’s for the withdrawal of its rating, which Moody’s did in June 2022.

For Zijin Mining, securing higher credit ratings is very important. In 2022, several rating agencies upgraded their ratings of Zijin, which is conducive to Zijin’s efforts to improve its debt structure and to enhance its corporate image in the capital markets.