Zijin Mining to commission China’s largest copper mine by end-2021

SHANGHAI, Jun 11 (SMM) – Zijin Mining will “unswervingly” push for the commissioning of Qulong copper mine, the largest in China, at the end of 2021, said Chen Jinghe, Chairman of the Chinese mining behemoth.

The Qulong mine is located in southwest China’s Tibet and owned by Tibet Julong Copper, which is likely to be taken over by Zijin Mining.

Zijin Mining said Sunday it will acquire a 50.1% share in the Tibet-based mining firm for 3.88 billion yuan ($547.7 million), which is expected to further cement its position as a copper giant and ease the risks brought on by mining operations overseas to its overall revenues.

This move came after the mining behemoth had a major setback in its Papua New Guinea (PNG) gold mining operations.

Qulong deposit will be exploited via large-scale open-pit mining, and the construction will be carried out in two phases. With investment of 14.6 billion yuan, the phase 1 is expected to come online at the end of next year, which will be able to produce 165,000 mt of copper and 6,200 mt of molybdenum per year.

In addition to Qulong, Tibet Julong also owns Zhibula and Rongmucuola projects.

Zijin Mining, meanwhile, is making rapid progress at the Kamoa-Kakula copper mining complex in DR Congo. Construction of the project is expected to be completed in 2021, and the initial phase will be able to process 6 million mt of ore per year at Kakula. The project is expected to produce 382,000 mt of copper per year on average in the first decade, and will ramp up to 740,000 mt in the 12th year.

By 2022, Zijin Mining’s copper mine output is expected to reach 670,000-740,000 mt, making the top 10 across the globe.