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(Kitco News) – China’s Zijin Mining Group announced Monday that it has officially commenced production at the Julong copper mine, which will become the largest world-class porphyry copper mine in China.
According to the company’s statement, in June 2020, it acquired 50.1% equity interest in Julong Copper and resumed construction of the mine.
The company said that together with the production volume of the Zhibula copper mine, Julong Copper is expected to produce 120-130 thousand tonnes of copper in 2022 after phase 1 of the Qulong copper mine is put into production.
Importantly, the company added that after the project’s phase 1 reaches the designated production capacity, the annual copper production volume will be approximately 160 thousand tonnes.
Zijin indicated that Julong resources include copper metal volume of 10.72 million tonnes and associated molybdenum metal volume of 570 thousand tonnes. Including nearby Rongmucuola and Zhibula copper mines, the project’s total resources (at a cut-off grade of 0.15%) to exceed 20 million tonnes.
“The commencement of production of phase 1 of Julong Copper can exert important impact on the company’s production increment of mine-produced copper, further raise the company’s profitability, and provide a powerful support for realizing the company’s leaping growth,” Zijin said in a statement.