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Zijin Mining (601899.SH) has bought another gold mine. On the evening of October 12, Zijin Mining announced its intention to invest 3.98 billion yuan to acquire 30% of the shares in UBS Mining, shares that were previously held by Bowen Mining. On the same day, Bowen Mining sold its additional 6.14% stake in UBS Mining to Zhaojin Mining (01818.HK) for 810 million yuan. Upon completion of the transaction, China Zijin Mining and Zijin Mining will hold 70% and 30% of the shares in UBS Mining respectively. UBS Mining holds 100% of the shares in Ruihai Mining, which owns all rights to the gold mine in that sea area. The Haiyu gold mine is the largest gold mine discovered in China in recent years, with reserves of 562.37 tons of gold and an average grade of 4.2 grams per ton. The gold mine is located in the northern part of Laizhou City, Shandong Province, and received a mining license issued by the Shandong Provincial Department of Natural Resources last July. According to the development plan, the designed mining and processing capacity of this mine is 12,000 tons per day; it is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2025, and once operational, it will be able to produce 15–20 tons of gold per year. Zijin Mining stated that this acquisition will help further increase the company’s gold resource reserves; it is estimated that the company will gain an additional 168.7 tons of gold resources, with an additional production volume of 4.5–6 tons once the project is operational. Zijin Mining believes that collaborating with Zhaojin Mining to develop gold mines in marine areas will leverage their respective strengths and create synergistic effects. Zijin Mining is China’s largest gold producer and the second-largest copper producer. Financial reports show that as of the end of last year, the company held 792 tons of gold reserves, accounting for over 40% of the country’s total gold reserves. In the first half of this year, the company benefited from the timely completion and commissioning of its key mines, such as Serbia’s Zijin Copper, Congo’s Kamoa Copper, and Tibet’s Julong Copper, which reached full production capacity. Zijin Mining achieved a net profit of 15.4 billion yuan, an increase of about 70% year-on-year, reaching a record high. In July this year, Zijin Mining invested nearly 500 million yuan to acquire 100% of the shares in the Savayardon gold mine in Wucha County, Xinjiang; once operational, it is expected to produce an additional 2.76 tons of gold per year. In addition to acquiring gold mines, driven by the boom in new energy, Zijin Mining has also accelerated its expansion into the lithium mining industry since last year. Last October, Zijin Mining spent nearly 5 billion yuan to acquire the 3Q lithium salt lake project in Argentina. At the end of June this year, Zijin Mining invested another 1.8 billion yuan to acquire 71.14% of the shares in Houdao Mining, thereby obtaining 100% ownership of the Xiangyuan Lithium Polymetallic Mine in Daoxian County, Hunan Province. The mine possesses 870,000 tons of lithium oxide resources. Following the completion of the aforementioned acquisition, Zijin Mining’s control over lithium resources will exceed 10 million tons, and its planned annual production capacity is expected to surpass 150,000 tons in terms of lithium carbonate equivalent, placing it among the top ten in the world. It ranks third in the domestic market, behind Ganfeng Lithium (002460.SZ) and Tianqi Lithium (002466.SZ). As of the close on October 12, the share price of Zijin Mining was 7.99 yuan per share, up by 1.4%, giving the company a market value of 210.4 billion yuan.