In late autumn 2019, with the sound of firecrackers, villagers from Gonghe Village and Xuli Village, located near the operations of Longnan Zijin Mining, successively moved into "Gongli New Village."
"I never imagined I could live in such a new house," one relocated villager remarked, jokingly and with a sense of pride.
This "new village," funded by Longnan Zijin, is seen by the locals as a "key" to unlocking a happy life.
Lixian County, Gansu Province, the birthplace of Qin ethnicity and culture, is known as "the hometown of Emperor Qin." However, due to overlapping mountains, steep slopes, and deep valleys, the county's economic foundation has been weak for a long time.
Gonghe Village and Xuli Village, where Longnan Zijin’s project is located, face severe transport challenges. The saying 'Dust on sunny days and mud on rainy days' reflects how villagers used to travel. The villagers' income mainly came from farming, but most of the farmland was on slopes, making it impossible to use machinery. They lived in houses with rudimentary conditions and had to “scrape by with savings for half the year and rely on borrowing for the other half.”
Since Zijin established its presence here in 2008, it has fully respected the wishes of local villagers and built Gongli New Village in Loudi Village, Luoba Town. At present, Gonghe and Xuli villagers have moved in and started a new life.
To ensure that relocated villagers can "move out, settle down, and achieve prosperity," Longnan Zijin actively provides free skills training for local young adults. For those who meet the employment criteria and are willing to work for the company, priority is given to hiring local villagers according to market-based practices, continuously increasing the local employment rate. Longnan Zijin also actively assists the two villages in increasing their incomes and pays for cooperative medical and pension insurance for residents around the mining area, striving to resolve concerns of the relocated people.
Translator:Lin Xinjing Reviser: Jian Editor-in-Chief: Wang Jie
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).