Chinese mining giant Zijin Mining (601899.SH/2899.HK) released its Q3 report, with a revenue of 79.98 billion yuan, rising by 7.11% from a year earlier, while net profit attributable to shareholders was 9.27 billion yuan.
For the first three quarters of the year, Zijin Mining generated a revenue of 230.4 billion yuan, up 2.39% year-on-year and net profit attributable to shareholders reached 24.36 billion yuan, representing a 50.68% increase, with basic earnings per share surging by 50.08% to 0.923 yuan.
As of the end of September, total assets reached 378.06 billion yuan, up 10.22% from a year earlier, while the asset-liability ratio fell by 4.28 percentage points from the beginning of the year.
The company attributed its strong performance to enhanced production management capabilities, increased output of key mineral products, effective cost control, and improved market analysis, allowing it to capitalize on rising metal prices.
From January to September, Zijin Mining produced 54 tons of gold, 790,000 tons of copper, and 310,000 tons of zinc. Gold and copper output increased by 8% and 5% year-on-year, respectively, while zinc output decreased by 4%. The gross profit margin of its mining operations was 57.71%, rising by 7.42 percentage points from a year earlier, and the overall gross profit margin was 19.53%, up 4.37 percentage points year over year.
Compared to Q2 2024, Zijin’s gold production in Q3 increased by 1%, copper by 6%, silver by 12%, and zinc by 8%. However, the gross profit margin for mining operations fell by 1.20 percentage points to 58.48%, and the overall gross profit margin fell by 1.43 percentage points to 20.24%.
Zijin Mining sees the global energy transition as a key driver for sustained growth in the mining sector and expects the prices of its main products to remain strong, supporting continued improvement in the company’s performance, particularly as global copper supply tightens and gold prices hit new highs amid increasing geopolitical risks.
Notably, the company noted that due to delays in project licensing and low lithium carbonate prices, Zijin has postponed the production timelines for its Argentina 3Q project and Tibet Lagcorcuo project to 2025. The company plans to optimize processes and reduce costs in preparation for the projects’ launch, to enhance resilience against price fluctuations.