Zijin Mining to invest RMB 1 billion in Tajikistan gold mine
Zijin Mining, China’s second largest gold producer, has plans to invest RMB 1 billion (US$146 million) in a gold mining project in Tajikistan.
Zijin now owns 75% of Tajikistan’s largest gold producer, JV Zeravshan LLC. This was achieved by taking over Commonwealth & British Mineral Ltd last year. The remaining 25 % stake in JV Zeravshan is owned by the Tajikistan government. The overall investment on this project will be RMB 1.3 billion, of which RMB 505 million has already been spent.
Zijin aims to inject more funds to boost output, as well as to upgrade the technology at its existing gold project in Tajikistan.
The company is now waiting for approval from China and the Philippines for a gold-copper mining project in the Philippines, which is expected to produce more than 1 million tons of copper and 100 tons of gold in the initial stage. Meanwhile, it is searching for new projects to mine silver and zinc in Tajikistan, and is also in talks to buy a gold mine in Africa.
Zijin produced 26.71 tons of gold in the first six months of 2008, a year-on-year increase of 19.9%, while its copper output hit 23,995 tons, an increase of 12.3%. Its zinc output fell 12.2% to 69,182 tons due to low prices.
The company announced profits of RMB 1.74 billion (US$255 million) in the first half of 2008, a year-on-year increase of 45%.
Tags: gold, investment