On the evening of April 21, Zijin Mining Group Company Limited released its first-quarter 2026 performance report. Benefiting from year-on-year increases in the prices of its main metal products, the full release of price-related gains, and significant cost-reduction effects, the company's performance slightly exceeded expectations. For the first quarter of 2026, operating revenue reached 98.498 billion yuan, an increase of 24.79% year-on-year. Net profit attributable to shareholders was 20.079 billion yuan, a substantial increase of 97.50% year-on-year. This also marks the first time Zijin Mining's quarterly profit has surpassed 20 billion yuan.
Regarding its primary mineral outputs, in the first quarter, Zijin Mining produced 23.5 tons of mineral gold, an increase of 23% year-on-year. Mineral copper production was 260,000 tons, a decrease of 9.9% year-on-year, affected by reduced output at the Kamoa-Kakula Copper Mine. The most notable performance was in the lithium sector. Zijin Mining achieved lithium carbonate equivalent production of 16,200 tons in the first quarter of this year, an increase of nearly 11 times year-on-year. The average selling price was 101,500 yuan per ton, up 68.2% compared to the fourth quarter of last year. The company expects lithium carbonate equivalent production to reach 120,000 tons in 2026 and plans to increase it to 270,000-320,000 tons by 2028, positioning it to become one of the world's largest lithium producers.
Zijin Mining has elevated lithium resources to a core status alongside gold and copper, making it a new core growth engine for the company's profits. In 2021, Zijin Mining acquired Canada's Neo Lithium Corp., gaining the 3Q Salt Lake project in Argentina, marking its official entry into the lithium resource industry. The strategic positioning at that time was to treat lithium as a supplementary business and explore possibilities in the new energy materials sector. In 2022, Zijin Mining successively acquired the Lagor Co Salt Lake in Tibet and the Xiangyuan hard-rock lithium mine in Hunan, initially building an interconnected domestic and international resource base described as "two lakes and one mine." In 2023, Zijin Mining obtained control of the world-class Manono lithium mine's northeastern project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, formally establishing a lithium resource matrix characterized as "one lake and one mine in China, one lake and one mine overseas." In the same year, the company indirectly acquired interests in other salt lakes in Qinghai and Tibet by taking a stake in Tibet Summit Resources Co., Ltd., further bolstering its resource reserves.
In the lithium sector, Zijin Mining is attempting to replicate its successful path in copper and gold – rapidly expanding its lithium resource footprint through counter-cyclical acquisitions and low-cost operations. Since entering the lithium resource industry from late 2021 to early 2022, Zijin Mining initially expected to achieve preliminary scaled production in 2023. However, actual production that year was only 2,900 tons LCE, and production in 2024 was merely 261 tons LCE. It was not until 2025 that production first surpassed the 10,000-ton LCE mark, though it still fell significantly short of the 40,000 tons LCE projected at the beginning of 2025. During this period, lithium carbonate prices experienced a roller-coaster ride, plummeting from a peak of 600,000 yuan per ton in 2022 to below 100,000 yuan per ton in 2024, then fluctuating down to around 60,000 yuan per ton in 2025 before gradually rising to break through 100,000 yuan per ton.
Although the contribution of lithium resources to output and revenue was limited, cumulative investment from 2024 to 2025 alone exceeded 7 billion yuan, accounting for over 35% of Zijin Mining's capital expenditure, highlighting the strategic importance and commitment to its lithium resource business. Zijin Mining's Argentine 3Q Salt Lake project is located in the core area of the South American "Lithium Triangle." It is a high-grade, low-impurity salt lake resource with superior mining conditions, using mature evaporation-precipitation methods to extract lithium carbonate. It was announced as officially operational in September 2025 and, within the remaining quarter of that year, shipped 5,800 tons of lithium carbonate.
The Lagor Co Salt Lake project, located in the high-altitude region of Tibet, is 63% owned by Zijin Mining. It officially commenced production in March 2025, producing 12,000 tons LCE that year, which was the primary source of Zijin's lithium resource production in 2025. The Xiangyuan hard-rock lithium mine in Hunan is held by Hunan Zijin Lithium Co., Ltd. It features medium-grade resources but a large scale, associated with various rare metals like rubidium and cesium, and officially began production in December 2025.
Currently, the 3Q Salt Lake, Lagor Co Salt Lake, and Xiangyuan hard-rock lithium mine projects are steadily ramping up production capacity following their commissioning. Construction of the northeastern section of the Manono lithium mine project is progressing steadily, with the main mining and processing (dense media separation)流程 now fully connected; it is expected to be completed and operational by June 2026. With the full completion and commissioning of these "two lakes and two mines," Zijin's lithium empire is set to take initial shape this year.
Comments