Another world-class mining project under Zijin Mining ushered in a high-light moment-Belgrade time on October 22, the official production ceremony of the Chukalupaiji copper and gold mine in Serbia was solemnly held in Boer, where the project is located.
Serbian President Vucic, Chinese Ambassador to Serbia Chen Bo, and Zijin Mining Chairman Chen Jinghe Special Representative Qiu Guozhu jointly touched the trigger switch, symbolizing the important cooperation project of "Belt and Road Initiative" between China and Serbia and the official launch of another world-class mine of Zijin Mineral. it also means that the company has taken a big step towards the goal of catching up with and surpassing the world-class mining companies.
"the mine looks so spectacular. I never dreamed it would look like this!" Vucic marveled after visiting the Chukalupaiji copper and gold mine.
Vucic pointed out that Zijin Mining's $474 million new Peggy copper and gold mine will be the first green mine in Serbia, which means that modern technology will be used in ore mining to meet the highest standards in the field of environmental protection.
Vucic spoke highly of the Paige project and thanked Zijin for creating a better future for eastern Serbia. He pointed out that since Zijin investment, the average salary of employees has increased by 50%, and the tax on mineral resources has increased by three times. Zijin has become one of the largest exporters in Serbia, contributing greatly to the Serbian economy and employment, thus making Serbia the second largest copper producer in Europe. Zijin's "high-level" and "modern" new mine is worth learning from Serbia. The new mine creates not only "profits" for enterprises, but also "profits" for the whole eastern part of Serbia. All people who leave the east are called on to return to this land and build a better future with their family and friends.
At present, two of Serbia's three major exporters are from China. "none of this would have happened without our Chinese friends." Vucic said that we must thank our Chinese partners and the profound friendship between Chinese leaders and the Chinese government.
Ambassador Chen Bo said that he is glad to see that Chinese enterprises' investment and operation projects will become the first "green mine" in Serbia, and will continue to operate mines in accordance with Chinese, Cypriot and European standards in the field of environmental protection. The commissioning of the Peggy project is of great significance to the Serbian economy, China-Cyprus cooperation and local surrounding residents, and is a concrete embodiment of the achievements of China-Cyprus cooperation.
Chairman Chen Jinghe wrote a personal letter to President Vucic in which he expressed his most sincere thanks for the ceremony, pointing out that the commissioning of the Peggy project is of strategic significance to Zijin and that the company is confident to work with the Serbian government and people to build the Peggy project into a landmark mining development project in Serbia, Europe and the world.
Chen Jinghe said that President Vucic's personal visit to the launch ceremony of the Peggy project is a full affirmation of the project construction work and an honor for Zijin. The Paige project will make a significant contribution to Zijin Mining's copper and gold production and profits this year and next. More importantly, the scale development of the lower ore belt of the Peggy project will be launched in the follow-up, and the impact will be even greater!
The mining and dressing project of the upper ore belt of Peggy Copper and Gold Mine is designed to handle 3.3 million tons of ore per year, and the first mining section is an ultra-high grade orebody. It is estimated that the concentrate will contain 50, 000 tons of copper and 3 tons of gold in 2021.
The company acquired the upper and lower ore belts of Peiji Copper and Gold Mine in 2018 and 2019 respectively, and held 100% interest in the project. At the beginning of 2019, Zijin team settled in, completed the construction task of upper ore belt mining and selection project after about two and a half years, entered the trial production stage in June 2021, reached the acceptance conditions in a short time, and realized the smooth transition from project construction to production operation.
Peggy Copper and Gold Mine is the second world-class mine completed and put into operation by Zijin Mining this year. It is one of the top ten high-grade super-large copper and gold deposits wholly owned by the company in the world, which is divided into the upper ore belt and the lower ore belt. The resource reserves of the upper ore belt are 1.28 million tons of copper metal, with an average grade of 3%, and 81 tons of gold metal with an average grade of 1.91g / ton. the first mining section is an ultra-high grade orebody, with an average annual output of 91400 tons of copper and 2.5 tons of gold after putting into production. among them, the peak annual output is expected to produce 135000 tons of copper and 6.1 tons of gold. According to the current high copper and gold prices, the Peggy project will become another important profit contribution point for Zijin Mining, bringing rich benefits for the company. In addition, the lower ore belt has resources of 14.3 million tons of copper metal, with an average grade of 0.86%, gold metal of 299 tons and an average grade of 0.18g / ton.
About 5 kilometers away from the Peggy copper and gold project, there is a large-scale Boer copper mine under the Zijin flag. The total copper metal resources of Peggy Copper Gold Mine and Boer Copper Mine are more than 25 million tons and gold metal resources are more than 740 tons. The large-scale coordinated development of the two major projects will accelerate the improvement of the efficiency level of Zijin Mining.
Relying on the ability of systematic independent technology research and development and engineering design and implementation, it has achieved the "Zijin speed" of accelerating catch-up. At the end of May, the first phase of Camoa-Kakoula Copper Mine, a world-class copper mine owned by Zijin, was completed and put into operation. Recently, the construction of the 3.8 million t / a concentrator in the second phase of Kakoula Copper Mine has exceeded the plan, and production is expected to start in the second quarter of 2022, a few months ahead of schedule. In addition, the company's Qulong Copper Mine, China's largest porphyry copper mine in Tibet, is also speeding up construction and will be completed and put into production by the end of this year.
Also present at the ceremony were former Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mikhilovich, Minister of Environmental Protection, Secretary of State of the Ministry of economy, Governor of the National Bank, Governor Bohr, Mayor Bohr and other government dignitaries. Representatives of the embassy in Serbia and representatives of mainstream media and enterprises in China and Serbia attended the event.
