The stunning rise of China’s most audacious miner

In 1993 officials in Shanghang county, in the south-eastern Chinese province of Fujian, enlisted Chen Jinghe, a geologist, to lead an effort to develop a local gold mine. So was born Zijin Mining. Mr Chen, who retired this year, would go on to turn the company he led into a global giant. Worth around $150bn today, it is the world’s fourth-most-valuable mining business. The soaring price of gold (of which it is the sixth-biggest producer) and copper (for which it ranks fifth) has led its market value to rocket upwards by 150% over the past year.

1993年，福建省上杭县决定开发当地一处金矿，随即邀请地质学家陈景河主持这一项目，紫金矿业由此诞生。陈景河（已退休）将这家企业一步步带上国际舞台，打造成为全球矿业巨头。如今，紫金矿业市值约1500亿美元，在全球矿业企业中位居第四。随着金价和铜价持续走高（紫金矿业是全球第六大黄金生产商、第五大铜生产商)紫金矿业市值在过去一年间飙升了150%。

Much of Zijin’s growth has taken place in the past decade, as the company has followed an ambitious strategy of global expansion. Its mining operations now span 18 countries across most parts of the world (see map). Between 2015 and 2025 it poured $26bn into capital expenditures and made $15bn-worth of acquisitions (see chart). In January it announced its biggest deal yet, to buy Allied Gold, a Canadian miner, for $4bn.

紫金矿业的快速扩张主要集中在过去十年。公司推行积极的全球化战略，业务版图不断向海外延伸。如今，公司矿业项目已遍布全球18个国家，覆盖世界大多数重要资源区域（见图）。2015年至2025年间，公司累计投入260亿美元用于资本开支，并斥资150亿美元开展并购（见图表）。今年1月，公司宣布以40亿美元收购加拿大矿业企业 Allied Gold，这是迄今规模最大的一笔交易。

Zijin has set itself the goal of ranking among the world’s top three producers of both copper (which accounts for two-thirds of the net value of its assets) and gold (which makes up a quarter) by 2028. To that end, in February it released a production plan to boost its output of the two minerals by as much as a half over the next three years, and expand its output of lithium more than ten-fold. The company has a solid record of hitting such targets. Executives who have worked with the miner say that its operations are strikingly efficient. As Western policymakers seek to loosen China’s chokehold over various minerals, Zijin’s success illustrates how difficult their task will be.

紫金矿业提出，到2028年跻身全球铜、金产量前三。铜业务目前占公司净资产价值的约三分之二，黄金约占四分之一。为此，公司今年2月发布生产规划，计划未来三年内将铜和黄金产量最高提升约50%，同时把锂产量扩大至目前的十倍以上。从过往表现看，公司在兑现类似目标方面记录稳健。多位与其合作过的业内人士称，其运营效率颇为突出。在西方政策制定者试图削弱中国在多种矿产资源领域主导地位之际，紫金矿业的发展轨迹也显示，这一目标实现起来并不容易。

Zijin has “gone where others won’t go”, says James Whiteside of Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy. Even in 2016, when copper prices were at their lowest since the global financial crisis amid a commodity downturn, the company was acquiring stakes in copper mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that others were selling off. As it bought up mines, Zijin often expanded their production several times over. Around half of its mining of both copper and gold now takes place outside China. It has helped that the quality of ore at its overseas sites has typically been higher than at home.

伍德麦肯兹咨询公司的詹姆斯·怀特赛德表示，紫金矿业敢为天下先往往主动布局。2016年，大宗商品市场低迷，铜价跌至全球金融危机以来的最低点。当时不少企业选择抛售资产、收缩战线，紫金却在刚果（金）收购铜矿股权。在接手这些矿山后，公司将产能提升至原来的数倍。如今，紫金矿业中铜和黄金的产量约有一半来自海外。海外项目的矿石品位整体也高于国内矿山，这为产量扩张提供了有利条件。

The company has also expanded beyond just digging up dirt. It has built a vast refining and smelting business that generates about a quarter of its operating profits. Many Western miners have shied away from these activities. Mineral processing is dirty, complex and typically not very profitable. Even when prices for minerals fall, operators must pay to keep their processing sites running because it is very expensive to switch them off and on again.

该公司也不再局限于单纯开采矿石。它建立了规模庞大的冶炼和精炼业务，这部分业务贡献了约四分之一的营业利润。许多西方矿业企业对这一领域避而远之。因为矿产加工过程污染重、工序复杂，而且利润率通常并不高。即便矿价下跌，运营方仍不得不维持加工设施运转，因为一旦停产，再重新启动的成本极其高昂。

For Zijin, however, its vertical integration has paid off. Because the profitability of processing is tied to the quality of the ore being used, Zijin’s acquisition of top-grade mines around the world has made refining and smelting more lucrative for it than others. By constructing facilities at many of its overseas mines for the initial stages of processing, the company is also able to ship semi-processed rock back to China for further treatment, saving on transport costs. Zijin also processes copper and gold supplied by other miners, providing greater economies of scale. Many of the end products—typically copper cathodes and gold bars—are then sold by Zijin’s trading arm.

不过，对紫金矿业而言，纵向一体化战略已经显现成效。由于加工环节的盈利能力与所使用矿石的品位密切相关，紫金在全球范围内收购高品位矿山，使其冶炼和精炼业务比同行更具盈利优势。通过在多处海外矿山建设初级加工设施，公司可以将经过初步处理的矿石运回中国进一步加工，从而节省运输成本。紫金还为其他矿企提供铜和黄金的加工服务，形成更大的规模效应。最终产品（通常为阴极铜和金条）则通过紫金的贸易部门对外销售。

Creating such a sprawling business has not been cheap. To fund its expansion, Zijin has had to borrow heavily. In 2010 the ratio of its debt to its assets was 21%; in the first half of 2025 the figure was 38%, far higher than for the big Western miners. To support further investments, in September the company consolidated its international gold mines into a subsidiary and listed a roughly 15% stake in the unit in Hong Kong, raising HK$25bn ($3.2bn).

打造如此庞大的业务版图并非没有代价。为支撑扩张，紫金矿业不得不大举举债。2010年，公司资产负债率为21%；到2025年上半年，这一比例已升至38%，明显高于西方大型矿业公司。为继续筹措投资资金，公司于9月将旗下海外金矿资产整合至一家子公司，并在香港上市该子公司约15%的股权，融资250亿港元（约合32亿美元）。

Another challenge for the company has been managing its environmental impact. In 2010 a toxic leak from a wastewater pond at a mine in Fujian province contaminated the nearby Ting River, damaging Zijin’s local reputation. More recently, villagers in Bor, Serbia, have complained of environmental damage caused by Zijin’s mine there (the company has denied the allegations). Such criticisms may eventually lead politicians abroad to start resisting the company’s expansion

该公司面临的另一项挑战是如何管控自身带来的环境影响。2010年，福建一处矿山的废水池发生有毒物质泄漏，污染了附近的汀江，损害了紫金在当地的声誉。近年，在Bor（Serbia）的村民也投诉称，紫金在当地的矿山对环境造成破坏（紫金否认相关指控）。这类争议若持续发酵，最终可能促使一些政界人士对公司的海外扩张采取更为审慎甚至抵制的态度