BEIJING : Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd, one of China’s largest gold and copper producers, reported on Friday that 2021 net profit surged by more than 140per cent to a record high and said it would expand production this year.
“Shocked by the energy crisis, rising nationalism in the crisis and soaring demand from the new energy sector… main mineral prices in the non-ferrous industry are rising,” it said, adding that despite a dip in gold prices, copper and zinc prices had jumped 24per cent and 27per cent respectively last year.
Zijin’s net income stood at 15.7 billion yuan ($2.47 billion) last year, a record high for the second straight year, according to the filing.
The miner’s revenue jumped 31.25per cent on an annual basis to 225.1 billion yuan, the company said, thanks to increasing prices of nonferrous metals.
Zijin’s mined copper production rose 28.8per cent in 2021 to 584,165 tonnes, while its smelted copper output climbed 7.9per cent to 621,334 tonnes, it said. Its mined gold output increased 17per cent to 47.5 tonne.
For 2022, the company expects to lift its mined copper output to 860,000 tonnes and mined gold production to 60 tonnes, according to the filing.
It also aims to raise mined zinc production from 434,000 tonnes in 2021 to 480,000 tonnes this year.
The miner will develop more mineral resources used as new energy materials such as lithium, cobalt and nickel, and plans to realise an annual capacity of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) at 50,000 tonnes.
Zijin had announced last month that it would invest $380 million to construct a lithium carbonate plant in Argentina, which is expected to start production in 2023.
Zijin’s A-share price ended up 3.2per cent at 10.63 yuan per tonne on Friday, and its H-share inched 0.5per cent higher to HK$11.2 ($1.43).
($1 = 6.3614 Chinese yuan renminbi)
($1 = 7.8216 Hong Kong dollars)
(Reporting by Min Zhang in Beijing and Meg Shen in Hong Kong; Editing by Susan Fenton)
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