Zijin Mining Fails in the Bidding for Exploration Rights of Huoshaoyun Lead and Zinc Mine

SHANGHAI, Feb 1 (SMM) - On the evening of January 19, the Government Service and Public Resource Trading Center of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region announced the bidding results of the exploration rights of the Huoshaoyun Lead and Zinc Mine. It is shown that Xinjiang Geology and Minerals Investment was granted the exploration rights with a tender price of 25 billion yuan, beating Zijin Mining's 24 billion yuan.

According to public information, the Huoshaoyun Lead and Zinc Mine is the largest lead and zinc deposit ever discovered in China. There are three exploration rights in three designated mining areas, with a total ore volume over 80 million mt and an estimated lead and zinc metal resources of 19.23 million mt. In addition, its average grade of zinc + lead is 27.97% (zinc 23.37%, lead 4.60%), making Huoshaoyun Lead and Zinc Mine a world-renowned high-grade, super-large zinc (lead) mine.

The starting price in this bidding is 22.3 billion yuan for a total area of 292.19 km².

Zijin Mining current owns 10.88 million mt of lead-zinc resources, ranking ninth in the world. In 2021, the company produced a total of 434,000 mt of lead and zinc, taking the fourth spot in the world.

Should the company win the bidding, it could have been the second largest zinc (lead) company in the world. Unfortunately, Zijin Mining missed the opportunity by a narrow chance.