On March 21, Zijin Mining released its 2024 financial results, reporting record-high resource holdings and production volumes of key commodities such as copper and gold, as well as new financial milestones.
During the year, the company achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of RMB 32.1 billion (US$4.4 billion), surging 52% year-on-year. It plans to issue a cash dividend of RMB 7.44 billion for the year 2024. Combined with the RMB 2.66 billion interim dividend distributed earlier in the year, the company’s total annual cash dividend will surpass RMB 10 billion—a first in its history.
Robust Growth: Higher Volumes, Rising Prices, and Cost Reductions Boost Global Competitive Edge
Amid intensifying global supply-demand imbalances, average prices of copper and gold in 2024 increased by 7.9% (LME copper price) and 23% (London gold price) year-on-year, respectively. Zijin Mining capitalized on the favorable prices, leveraging its unique “Five-Pronged Mining Engineering Model” to boost the output of its world-class incremental projects.
Copper production: 1.07 million tonnes (up 6% YoY), ranking 4th globally. Five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR): 24%.
This follows the company’s milestone of surpassing 1 million tonnes in 2023. It also makes Zijin one of the companies with the highest output increment among the world’s major copper producers.
Gold production: 73 tonnes (up 8% YoY), ranking 1st in China and 6th worldwide. Five-year CAGR: 12%.
Amid a widespread increase in costs across the global mining industry, Zijin moved faster to enhance its global operations management system, with a focus on overseas assets. Through technological innovation, refined project budgeting and settlement, and a transition to owner-operated mining, mine construction, and installation works, it has effectively kept costs from rising. The production costs of its main commodities rank in the lowest quartile of the global industry cost curve.
Driven by greater volumes, higher metal prices, and effective cost management, the company achieved record financial performance:
Revenue: RMB 303.6 billion (4th among global miners)
Net attributable profit: RMB 32.1 billion (5th globally), jumping 52% year-on-year
Sustainability Milestones: Accelerating the Green Transition
Beyond financial performance, the company also advanced green, low-carbon transformation for sustainable growth based on international ESG standards.
Total carbon emissions: 6.99 million tonnes (down 17.96% YoY).
Carbon intensity: 34.9% reduction per RMB 10,000 of industrial value from 2020 baseline—realizing its 2025 target ahead of schedule.
Clean energy: 767 MW of installed capacity, generating 564.54 GWh of power on an attributable basis (up 48.21% YoY).
Zijin reduced its carbon emissions while scaling up production, building momentum to achieve its goal of carbon peaking by 2029 and carbon neutrality by 2050. Focusing on clean energy, energy conservation, emission reduction, and environmental protection, the company will integrate climate action into its management system, forging a “Zijin Model” for the sustainable development of global companies.
Sustained Momentum: Significant Resource Addition and Capacity Ramp-Up
In 2024, Zijin’s progress in resource expansion was encouraging. The Julong copper mine in Xizang and the Tongshan Copper Mine in Heilongjiang added a combined 18.377 million tonnes of contained copper from new resources, as confirmed by government filings. The addition represents the main increment in copper resources achieved under China’s latest exploration breakthrough initiative.
In the overseas segment, apart from the acquisitions of the La Arena copper-gold mine in Peru and the Akyem gold mine in Ghana, the company discovered resources such as the high-grade Malka Golaja copper-gold deposit at the depth of the Timok metallogenic belt in Serbia, through the use of its proprietary “Sinian 3D Induced Polarization” system during exploration.
In 2024, the resources and reserves of its main commodities all achieved double-digit growth year-over-year. Currently, the company’s measured, indicated and inferred resources include 110 million tonnes of copper, 4,000 tonnes of gold, 18 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, 32,000 tonnes of silver, 5 million tonnes of molybdenum, and 13 million tonnes of zinc and lead. The world-class resource base constitutes a robust moat for the company.
Meanwhile, several world-class copper mines are ramping up production capacity:
Čukaru Peki copper-gold mine and Bor copper complex in Serbia: Expansion projects underway, targeting a combined mined copper output of 450,000 tonnes per annum. Once complete, Zijin is expected to become the largest copper producer in Europe.
Kamoa-Kakula copper mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo: When its Phase 3 concentrator reaches nameplate capacity, it will boast an annual mined copper production of 600,000 tonnes, elevating it to the world’s third-largest copper project.
Julong Copper Mine in Xizang, China: Phase 2 expansion set to begin production by year-end 2025. Julong is expected to produce 600,000 tonnes of mined copper annually if Phase 3 is approved and commissioned, which will position the project as the world’s largest copper mine by throughput, with the lowest grades and at the highest altitude.
Zijin’s gold portfolio is equally poised for growth, which will lift its rankings among global gold producers:
Six of its majority-owned mines are scheduled to each produce more than 5 tonnes of gold in 2025.
Two part-owned projects will also contribute volumes: The Porgera Gold Mine in Papua New Guinea has maintained stable performance after restarting operations, and the Haiyu Gold Mine, China’s largest gold project, is striving for commissioning in the first half of 2026.
New capacity from recently acquired projects such as the La Arena copper-gold mine in Peru.
While lithium prices are currently low, Zijin remains bullish on continued, rapid growth in the global demand for lithium carbonate. Its lithium projects–two salars and two hard-rock mines, along with operations in renewable energy and advanced materials, are progressing steadily and gathering momentum for growth. Given the market conditions, the company plans to produce 40,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent in 2025, creating a significant new growth driver and accelerating its emergence as one of the world’s leading lithium producers.
After Zijin completes the acquisition of the controlling stake in Zangge Mining, it will gain absolute control over the Julong copper mine. The deal will also significantly boost the company’s holdings of copper and lithium resources while adding strategic potash resources to its portfolio, marking a critical step in its push to establish a new growth pillar.
Translator: Li Yuanxing Reviser: Jian Editor-in-Chief: Fa Yuan