https://www.miningweekly.com

Zijin cuts 2020 gold output target after Porgera mine snub

27th April 2020

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

BEIJING – China's Zijin Mining on Monday revised down its gold production target for 2020 after Papua New Guinea (PNG) refused to extend the mining lease at the Porgera mine it operates with Barrick Gold.

Zijin, which produced 40.8 t of mined gold in 2019, was previously targeting output of 44 t this year, rising to 42 t to 47 t in 2021 and 49 t to 54 t in 2022.

However, following the PNG decision, Zijin said in a filing it would strive to "maintain the mine-produced gold production volume in 2020 about the same as that of 2019" by speeding up the upgrade and construction of the Longnan Zijin project in China and other mines in its portfolio that were already producing.

The Porgera snub ended months of uncertainty after the lease for the project expired in August but Zijin said its joint venture with Barrick would "pursue all legal avenues to protect its legitimate interests and recover any damages."

Zijin's share of Porgera production in 2019 was 8.827 t.

Zijin said it would "proactively seek lawful and reasonable solutions" to the impasse, the filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange said, warning that a prolonged outage at the mine would "cause losses to all the stakeholders."

Zijin, which has mines in countries including Colombia, Serbia and Australia, said it expected its gold production to maintain "satisfactory growth in the future."

It said it would pay attention to market opportunities and consider acquisitions of producing assets to boost output.

Zijin's shares closed down 4.9% in Hong Kong on Monday and fell 9.2% in Shanghai.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION