Western Mining Innovates Lead-Zinc Processing, Boosts Gold/Silver Recovery and Efficiency

Construction Content The project is planned to build a production site for PV and electronic-grade new materials centered on high-purity silver powder and silver paste, supported by intensive precious metal processing and the development of cultural and creative derivative products. Main products include high-purity silver powder (200 mt/year), silver ingots (200 mt/year), PV silver paste (200 mt/year), and silver jewelry cultural and creative products (200 mt/year), with total output value exceeding 9 billion yuan. The technology process adopts efficient electrorefining, with silver purity reaching above 99.995% (up to 6N grade), supporting high-end applications such as semiconductor bonding wires and superconducting materials.

DKEM (300842.SZ) reported attributable net profit of -276 million yuan in 2025, down 176.80% YoY, mainly due to fluctuations in raw material silver powder prices and the impact of non-recurring gains and losses. The company recorded operating revenue of 18.046 billion yuan, up 17.56% YoY; net profit excluding non-recurring items was 163 million yuan, down 62.78% YoY. The board of directors proposed not to distribute cash dividends. Operationally, full-year sales of PV conductive paste were 1,829.16 mt, down 10.23% YoY, of which N-type TOPCon battery paste accounted for 95.72%. The company will continue to increase R&D in N-type battery paste technology to consolidate its industry-leading position.

From the perspective of Sprott’s experts, gold remains a central strategic building block for investors, even if the precious metal suffers in the short term from the rise in US Treasury yields.