◎ Li Ping
On March 22, Zijin Mining released its 2023 performance report, which shows that the company's ten-year development plan continues to be vigorously promoted: the main mineral products continue to grow in volume, especially the mineral copper reaches 1.01 million tons, becoming the only mineral copper enterprise in Asia to exceed the million mark.
Against the backdrop of slowing global economic growth and shrinking profits in the mining industry, Zijin Mining achieved annual revenue of 293.4 billion yuan, net profit attributable to the parent company of 21.1 billion yuan, and net operating cash flow of 36.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9%, 5%, and 29% respectively.
The high growth and strong implementation of strategic goals have given the market a new definition of the value of Zijin Mining. According to the data, the company's A-share and H-share share prices at the end of 2023 increased by 27% and 23% respectively from the end of the same period last year. Since the beginning of this year, the company's total market value has further risen, exceeding 400 billion yuan, ranking 22nd among A-share listed companies and 6th among global mining companies.
Copper-gold go hand in hand Global high-quality assets provide sustained growth momentum
"Zijin Mining's copper output exceeded one million tons, achieving the development goal that the industry has dreamed of for many years. The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association said at the press conference on the operation of the industry in 2023.
According to data from the Nonferrous Metals Association, in 2023, China will produce 1.619 million tons of copper from its mines, which is equivalent to about 60% of China's total copper production.
Since 2020, Zijin Mining has maintained a compound annual growth rate of about 30% in copper production, making it the company with the largest and fastest growth in global copper production and among the top five in the world.
According to the annual report, Zijin Mining's three world-class large-scale copper mine production bases in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Serbia and Tibet, China, are implementing large-scale expansion and technological transformation plans, which will continue to significantly increase the increase in copper, and the new production capacity of existing projects alone is expected to exceed 500,000 tons in the next 3-5 years.
Due to economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions, gold is sought after as a major safe-haven asset. Zijin Mining seized the market opportunity to accelerate the increase of gold production capacity, and its gold production ratio increased by 20% to 68 tons in 2023, ranking first among major listed mining companies in China and among the top 10 in the world, with an average annual compound growth rate of more than 15% since 2020, making it the fastest growing company in the world.
Entering 2024, the Bogra Gold Mine, one of the world's top ten gold mines, has resumed production, and world-class gold mines such as the Rosbell Gold Mine in Suriname will continue to expand their production capacity, coupled with the construction of a number of medium-sized gold mines, the company's gold output will achieve sustained and rapid growth.
Industry insiders believe that although the annual metal output is growing rapidly, there is also a parallel increase in mineral resources, which is the cornerstone of Zijin Mining's sustainable development.
It is understood that Zijin Mining has formed certain mineral resource advantages, with equity resources of about 75 million tons of copper, about 3,000 tons of gold, more than 10 million tons of zinc (lead), more than 13 million tons of equivalent lithium carbonate, about 3 million tons of molybdenum, and about 15,000 tons of silver.
In 2024, many of the world's leading mining companies will lower their production plans, and Zijin Mining's planned output of mineral products will still increase significantly. According to the annual report, the company plans to achieve 1.11 million tons of mineral copper, 73.5 tons of mineral gold, 470,000 tons of mineral zinc (lead), 25,000 tons of equivalent lithium carbonate, 420 tons of mineral silver, and 9,000 tons of mineral molybdenum.
Mutual development Build a popular mining development model
In January 2024, Refinitiv, one of the world's leading rating companies, updated its latest ESG score, and Zijin Mining ranked first among 671 companies in the metals and mining industry in the world.
According to the reporter, in the past year, Zijin Mining's global mainstream ESG ratings such as S&P CSA Ratings and Morningstar Ratings have been comprehensively improved, and ESG performance has entered the first echelon of the industry.
Chen Jinghe, Chairman of Zijin Mining, said that we take common development as our value and never sacrifice the interests of others for our own development, and have achieved a win-win situation such as efficient project development, improvement of residents' lives and improvement of ecological environment, which is a valuable experience for the company to "go global" for long-term stability and long-term success.
As an important participant in the global mining market, Zijin Mining regards ESG as a "compulsory course" for global development, and proposes to achieve carbon peak by 2029 and carbon neutrality by 2050, which is the company's solemn commitment.
It is understood that in the past year, the company has comprehensively strengthened the management of carbon emissions in the whole life cycle of mines, included the completion of dual carbon indicators in the assessment of the economic responsibility system, and issued the company's "Double Carbon Work Guidelines" to guide the decarbonization of the whole life cycle of mines, with an annual carbon emission intensity of 1.53 tons/10,000 yuan of industrial added value, achieving a year-on-year decrease of 1.46% while maintaining rapid growth in performance.
To promote the construction of green ecological mines with the highest global standards, Zijin Mining has formed many high-value green mine recycling cases around the world. The company's global projects have been equipped with downstream online monitoring systems, invested 1.37 billion yuan in environmental protection throughout the year, planted 3.86 million flowers and trees, restored 6.22 million square meters of land, increased the number of national green mines to 12, and increased the number of national green factories to 7. The company's global ecological and environmental protection concept has been highly appreciated by the countries and regions where it is located.
"Developing the mining industry for the benefit of society" is the purpose and original intention of Zijin Mining, and the company insists on sharing the fruits of development with shareholders, investors, project host countries and communities, employees and collaborators, and other related parties.
According to statistics, in 2023, the company will contribute 324.7 billion yuan to the global direct economy, of which 56.2 billion yuan will be social contribution, and 827 million yuan will be invested in communities around the world, including 10 million yuan donated to the earthquake-stricken area of Jishishan, Gansu. In September 2023, the company was awarded the "China Charity Award" for the fourth time.
In 2023, Zijin Mining also launched a new round of employee stock ownership plans and stock option incentive plans, and the benefit-sharing mechanism for core talents has been further improved.
According to the announcement, the company plans to distribute 5.265 billion yuan of profits in 2023, and the cumulative profit distribution in the past three years will reach 17.1 billion yuan.
Move towards the "new" and ignite a new engine for high-quality development
In the face of the good growth trend, Zijin Mining proposed to strive to achieve the strategic goal of "a first-class green high-tech international mining group" by 2028, two years ahead of schedule, and its main mineral products and main business indicators basically entered the top three in the world.
In order to achieve this ambitious goal, in 2024, Zijin Mining will be guided by the development of new quality productivity, stimulate the core competitiveness of scientific and technological innovation, take cost control as the starting point, improve total factor productivity, and maximize economic and social benefits.
Green and low-carbon is not only a must for the sustainable development of the mining industry, but also a new industrial opportunity. Chen Jinghe said that Zijin Mining will fulfill its "dual carbon" commitment, build a global benchmark for green ecological mines, develop carbon asset reserve projects, accelerate the construction of clean energy substitution and carbon neutrality demonstration bases, and do a good job in regreening, greening and biodiversity conservation, and incorporate eco-friendliness into the supply chain trajectory to enrich the connotation of green and low-carbon value chains.
At present, the development momentum of the lithium sector of "Two Lakes and Two Mines" is strong, which will boost the company's promotion to become one of the most important lithium production enterprises in the world within five years.
Scientific and technological innovation is the core element in the development of new quality productive forces. In order to accelerate the creation of this global competitive comparative advantage, Zijin Mining has recently established the "Central Research Institute", which will coordinate and direct the company's R&D resources, and strive to solve a number of key issues related to sustainable development, such as "natural caving mining" of ultra-deep large-scale copper mines. Zijin Mining also actively promotes mechanization, automation, intelligence and digital informatization, increases the construction of intelligent mines, and improves business transparency and production and operation efficiency.
Facing the future, Chen Jinghe, Chairman of Zijin Mining, said that the company will continue to adhere to the work policy of "improving quality, controlling costs and increasing efficiency", advance the development of the next five years, cultivate and shape new momentum and new advantages for the development of new quality productivity in the mining industry, realize the further improvement of resources, production capacity and efficiency, and make every effort to move towards the world-class goal, create greater value for society and investors, and contribute to global economic growth and green development.