Zijin Mining published its unaudited first-quarter 2026 results, showing strong top-line and bottom-line expansion driven by higher metal prices, rising gold and lithium output, and improved cost control.
Revenue and Profitability • Operating income grew 24.79 % year on year to 98.50 billion RMB. • Net profit reached 25.17 billion RMB, up 101.90 %. • Net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company rose 97.50 % to 20.08 billion RMB, equivalent to basic earnings per share of 0.76 RMB. • Group gross profit margin improved to 36.33 % (mining segment: 71.01 %).
Cash Flow and Balance Sheet • Net operating cash inflow increased 122.15 % to 27.83 billion RMB. • Total assets stood at 549.92 billion RMB, up 7.41 % from year-end 2025. • Equity attributable to shareholders rose 8.02 % to 200.42 billion RMB. • The company ended the quarter with 99.39 billion RMB in cash and cash equivalents.
Production Highlights (YoY) • Mine-produced gold: 23.50 tonnes, +23 %. • Mine-produced copper: 259.21 thousand tonnes, –9.87 % (due to lower attributable output at Kamoa-Kakula, partly offset by Julong Phase 2 ramp-up). • Lithium carbonate equivalent: 16.23 thousand tonnes, compared with 1.38 thousand tonnes in Q1 2025. • Mine-produced zinc: 84.51 thousand tonnes, –4.20 %.
Price and Cost Dynamics • Average realised price for gold bullion rose to 1,089.04 RMB/g (Q1 2025: 661.83 RMB/g), while unit cost held at 331.11 RMB/g, lifting gold bullion gross margin to 69.60 %. • Copper concentrate realised 81,543 RMB/t vs. 60,179 RMB/t a year earlier; unit cost rose modestly to 23,780 RMB/t, pushing gross margin to 70.84 %. • Lithium carbonate realised 101,456 RMB/t with a unit cost of 39,123 RMB/t, providing a 61.44 % gross margin in its second quarter of meaningful contribution.
Operational Developments • Newly acquired Akyem (Ghana) and Raygorodok (Kazakhstan) gold mines delivered incremental output. • Julong Copper Mine Phase 2 commenced production in late January and produced 60 thousand tonnes of copper in Q1. • The Tres Quebradas, Lakkor Tso and Xiangyuan lithium projects continued ramp-up; the Manono Northeast project is on track for June 2026 start-up. Management expects lithium output to reach 120 thousand tonnes LCE in 2026 and 270-320 thousand tonnes by 2028.
Shareholder Structure Zijin Mining reported 1,252,002 ordinary shareholders at quarter-end. Minxi Xinghang State-owned Assets Investment Company remained the largest holder with a 22.88 % stake.
Non-Recurring Items First-quarter non-recurring gains totalled 1.62 billion RMB, mainly from fair-value gains on financial instruments (1.70 billion RMB) and government grants (0.19 billion RMB).
Outlook Management continues to focus on “improving quality, increasing production, controlling costs, and boosting profitability,” positioning the company to capitalise on favourable commodity prices and ongoing mine expansions.
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