Baiyin Nonferrous is one of the leading sectors in this year's bull market, with several stocks within the sector doubling in price, and its performance has recently drawn attention.
Since the beginning of the year, the non-ferrous metal sector has been at the forefront of the market. As of October 16, the non-ferrous metal (Shenwan) industry index (801050) closed at 7476.09 points, reflecting a year-to-date increase of 73.14%, with 14 stocks in the industrial metal sector doubling this year.
On a stock-specific level, Baiyin Nonferrous (601212.SH), which primarily engages in the mining and smelting of copper, zinc, lead, silver, and other metals, has recently hit multiple trading limit-ups, achieving an impressive cumulative price increase of 40.10% from September 30 to October 13 over four trading days. This substantial increase comes as the company continues to expand its international resource footprint and accelerate the construction of domestic and overseas mineral projects. Additionally, the precious metal segment has emerged as a key growth highlight.
Strong Growth in Precious Metal Business
The revenue from gold increased by 181% in the first half of the year.
As a non-ferrous and precious metals company with an established international presence, Baiyin Nonferrous's primary operations include the mining, smelting, processing, and trading of various non-ferrous and precious metals such as copper, zinc, lead, gold, and silver. According to its 2025 semi-annual report, Baiyin Nonferrous currently holds market shares of 2.68%, 0.36%, and 6.08% in the domestic copper, lead, and zinc markets, respectively, with its product quality recognized by clients, establishing a strong reputation and competitiveness.
In the first half of 2025, Baiyin Nonferrous produced 130,500 tons of copper, lead, zinc, and molybdenum metals. In contrast, its smelting output saw significant growth, with total production of copper, zinc, and lead products reaching 426,200 tons, a year-on-year increase of 5.94%. This included 197,000 tons of cathode copper (up 7.34%), 13,800 tons of refined lead (up 89.2%), 215,400 tons of zinc (up 1.85%), 11,773 kilograms of gold (including 1,053 kilograms produced by First Gold Company, up 73.31%), 270.54 tons of silver (up 20.49%), and 1,074,600 tons of sulfuric acid (up 17.84%).
The report indicated that the increase in cathode copper production was attributable to the completion of technological upgrades to existing furnaces, complementing advantages of rapid furnaces and effectively releasing copper smelting capacity. The increases in gold and silver outputs were mainly due to increased processing of raw gold and silver.
In terms of its main business composition, non-ferrous metal mining, smelting, and sales are key revenue sources, contributing nearly 70% of total revenue. Cathode copper alone accounts for close to 50% of the company's revenue.
Baiyin Nonferrous's revenue is derived mainly from three segments: mining and smelting sales, trading, and services in non-ferrous metals. In the first half of 2025, these three segments generated revenues of 30.262 billion yuan, 12.857 billion yuan, and 318 million yuan, respectively, constituting 67.92%, 28.85%, and 0.71% of total revenue. The mining and smelting sales revenue increased by 52.42% year-on-year.
Breaking down the product types, Baiyin Nonferrous’s main revenue-generating products include cathode copper, gold, zinc ingots, copper rods, silver, and copper concentrates. In the first half of this year, these products achieved revenues of 21.232 billion yuan, 8.318 billion yuan, 3.294 billion yuan, 3.073 billion yuan, 2.023 billion yuan, and 1.976 billion yuan, making up 47.65%, 18.67%, 7.39%, 6.90%, 4.54%, and 4.44% of the total revenue, respectively.
Overall, the precious metal products have become significant growth drivers for Baiyin Nonferrous. In the first half of this year, revenue from gold and silver sales surged by 181% and 31.71%, respectively.
Recently, Baiyin Nonferrous plans to establish a gold subsidiary to accelerate its strategic upgrade across the entire industrial chain. On September 29, the board approved a proposal to set up a gold company with a registered capital of 1.5 billion yuan, funded through a combination of cash, mineral rights, and physical assets. The aim is to develop a full industrial chain encompassing gold exploration, mining, smelting, and processing, ultimately seeking to integrate provincial gold resources and establish a leading gold enterprise in Gansu Province.
Continuous Breakthroughs in Overseas Resource Layout
Accelerated Progress in Mineral Project Construction
Baiyin Nonferrous's continued growth in main product output is supported by its extensive resource layout both domestically and internationally. According to disclosures, the domestic mines hold substantial copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver, and molybdenum reserves totaling 7.8148 million tons, including 214,400 tons of copper, 1,570,200 tons of lead, 6,030,200 tons of zinc, 12.42 tons of gold, 1,832.54 tons of silver, and 13,600 tons of molybdenum.
New achievements have also been reported in overseas resource layouts. In an announcement regarding the acquisition of mining company shares released in April, Baiyin Nonferrous completed the 100% equity transfer of the Brazilian copper gold mine project company Serrote Participações S.A. and AMH 2 (Jersey) Limited. This acquisition increased the company’s copper resources from 221,700 tons to approximately 930,000 tons, significantly enhancing its resource reserves and security level.
Additionally, Baiyin Nonferrous previously acquired 100% ownership of First Gold Group Limited, a significant gold mine company in South Africa, in 2017, which operates the East Mod Gold Mine and associated projects in the East Rand basin.
Per the disclosed overseas resources in the 2025 semi-annual report, First Gold has gold resources totaling 25.717 million ounces (approximately 799.89 tons) and a gold reserve of 426,400 ounces (approximately 13.26 tons); Serrote holds 704,000 tons of copper resources and 432,000 ounces (approximately 13.44 tons) of gold resources.
Currently, Baiyin Nonferrous is also advancing its domestic and overseas mineral project constructions. As of mid-year, the company’s green ore-dressing reagent technical upgrade project (Phase I) has launched the production line for 15,000 tons in the first workshop, while the second workshop is under construction; the smart copper smelting plant project has completed 28 subprojects and is currently implementing IT resource construction, along with other projects like the automatic delivery of boiler flue dust; the mine tailings dam construction for the Solkuduku copper mine in Xinjiang is in progress, with completion anticipated by December 2025; the tailings dam project for the lead-zinc mine in Heitan Valley is also in progress.
Moreover, the construction of the second phase of the tailings reservoir project by Baiyin Nonferrous First Trust Peru has been completed, receiving operational approval from Peru's Ministry of Energy and Mines, and has officially commenced operations; the Gedex mine resource recovery project by First Gold has been successfully built and is operational in both phases.
It is worth mentioning that Baiyin Nonferrous has made significant progress in strategic transformations toward new energy and new materials. In September, the company announced on its investor platform that its strategic emerging industry projects are on track. Its subsidiary, Baiyin Nonferrous Changtong Cable Co., Ltd., has reached a micro-electromagnetic wire production capacity of 20,000 tons/year; a joint venture with Gansu Defu New Materials Co., Ltd. has reached a production scale of 70,000 tons for high-end electrolytic copper foil; another joint venture with Baiyin Shidai Ruixiang New Material Technology Co., Ltd. has completed the first stage of a lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) cathode material project with a capacity of 20,000 tons; and Gansu Yinshi Zhongke Nano Technology Co., Ltd. has successfully put into trial production a 5,000-ton nano zinc oxide line as of July 2025. Going forward, the company will continue to optimize its layout in the new materials and new energy industries.
Industrial Metals Sector Sees 14 Doubling Stocks
Leading Firms Intensify Gold Resource Investments
The fluctuations in Baiyin Nonferrous's stock price coincide with rising prices for non-ferrous metal products this year. According to the semi-annual report for 2025, from January to June, the average price of LME-3M copper increased by 2.59% year-on-year to $9,442.4 per ton; similarly, LME-3M zinc rose by 3.68% year-on-year to $2,772.7 per ton. Precious metals saw even more significant increases, with the average price of COMEX gold rising by 39.33% to $3,088.6 per ounce, and COMEX silver increasing by 25.97% to $33.091 per ounce. Notably, the increase in gold prices is driven by ongoing central bank purchases, rising geopolitical risks, and expectations for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
In the context of supply disruptions, diminished dollar credibility, and an influx of risk-averse funds, non-ferrous metal product prices have recently reached new heights. According to a research report released by Zhongyou Securities on October 11, prices for LME copper, aluminum, zinc, lead, and tin increased by 0.76%, 2.20%, 0.95%, 1.44%, and decreased by 0.14%, respectively, while precious metals showed gains with COMEX gold rising by 3.80%, silver by 1.44%, NYMEX palladium by 12.53%, and platinum declining by 10.07%. In the same timeframe, LME nickel and cobalt prices increased by 1.44% and 3.50%, respectively, while lithium carbonate prices remained stable.
From a secondary market perspective, according to Wind data, the Shenwan non-ferrous metal industry index has strengthened markedly this year, with all industry sub-sectors, including industrial metals, energy metals, and precious metals, witnessing increases of over 50%.
Within the industrial metals sector, where Baiyin Nonferrous operates, 14 of the 61 A-share listed companies have seen their stock prices double this year. Among them, Xingye Silver Tin, Pengxin Resources, and Luoyang Molybdenum have recorded the highest stock price increases of 209.37%, 182.67%, and 143.56%, respectively. In addition, an additional 11 companies - including Yuguang Gold & Lead, Huayu Mining, Shengda Resources, Northern Copper Industry, Baiyin Nonferrous, Zhuzhou Smelter Group, Zhongfu Industry, and Zijin Mining - have also reported increases exceeding 100% (see attached table). Analyzing from September onward, Baiyin Nonferrous, Yuguang Gold & Lead, and Xingye Silver Tin rank top in the industrial metal sector with increases of 68.75%, 66.15%, and 60.71%, respectively.
Currently, leading firms in the rising non-ferrous sector generally exhibit strong performance support, significant precious metal resource reserves, and potential for capacity release. For instance, Pengxin Resources and Luoyang Molybdenum, which have seen substantial stock price gains this year, reported profit gains in the first half of the year due to improved performance driven by a rise in gold business volumes and prices. Pengxin Resources achieved a net profit of 141 million yuan attributed to a 192 million yuan increase in industrial product gross profit year-on-year, alongside a 200 million yuan profit increase from the reversal of cobalt hydroxide impairments compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, Luoyang Molybdenum, highlighted for its performance in the industrial metal sector, reported a historic high in earnings driven by increases in price and volume of copper and cobalt products. The company recorded a net profit of 8.671 billion yuan in the first half of this year, representing a 60.07% year-on-year increase. In June, Luoyang Molybdenum announced it had completed a cash acquisition of Canada-listed Lumina Gold for CA$580 million (approximately 3 billion yuan), thereby gaining 100% ownership of the Cangrejos Gold Mine in Ecuador, with production targeted to start in 2028, targeting an annual output of approximately 11.5 tons of gold.
(The stocks mentioned above are only examples for analysis and do not constitute investment advice.)
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