Mining giant puts new spin on China resource push
HONG KONG, May 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Zijin Mining's (601899.SS), opens new tab, plan to take advantage of the surging gold price may not glitter as much as it hopes. The $67 billion company, which also digs up copper, zinc and lithium, wants to spin off, opens new tab its overseas gold mines into a separate listing on Hong Kong's stock exchange. That could boost its valuation and its global ambition. But new targets may be harder to find.
Zijin has gained over 700% since 2015, making it one of the best-performing blue chips in Hong Kong. During that time it also spent $7 billion snapping up assets around the globe, more than its domestic rivals, per Dealogic.
Shareholder value was not the only – or possibly even chief – driver. The People's Republic is resource-hungry, and Zijin's overseas spending spree helps Beijing's strategy to secure self-reliance in critical minerals. That's why the mining sector has been unaffected by regulators' tight oversight that has curtailed most other industries' outbound M&A.
As a result, Zijin's gold and copper production now accounts for 24% and 65% of China's total, per its latest annual report. The company's strategic value to the country looks even higher with the price of both metals recently shooting to record highs.
Arguably, though, keeping them under the same roof has weighed down valuation. Zijin's Hong Kong-listed shares trade at 10 times 2025 earnings, compared with the average 16 times multiple of several gold-mining global peers, calculates Jefferies. Carving out its yellow metal assets might narrow that gap.
Yet Chinese miners' global push is getting more rocky. First, Zijin has tended to focus on riskier-looking assets, mainly in developing countries. In 2020, for example, it bought control of the Buriticá project in Colombia from Newmont (NEM.N), opens new tab. It's now the company's third-biggest gold mine by production, but the company reckons thieves in 2023 stole 3.2 tonnes worth $200 million – 38% of the location's annual output.
Second, multinational rivals are less willing to sell as Chinese demands drive up prices of critical metals. Many will also want to avoid provoking President Donald Trump, whose administration is stepping up to counterbalance, opens new tab China's influence in resources-rich countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Zijin is also heavily invested.
All big mining companies have to learn how to navigate geopolitical risks. For Zijin, those lessons are getting trickier.
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