机构投资者评论Institutional Investor Review：资本向善 专业求真 有温度 有态度
Produced by | Institutional Investor Commentary IIR
Respect the originality, resist the washing, and the offender will be investigated
Please contact the background for reprint authorization, business cooperation, etc
IIR anti-loss standby official account: IIR_Backup
Today (October 9), domestic mining giant Zijin Mining (601899.SH/2899.HK) and Newmont Corporation, the world's leading gold company listed in 1925; Zijin Mining and its wholly-owned overseas subsidiary, Jinyuan International Holdings Co., Ltd., have signed a Share Acquisition Agreement with Newmont Corporation and its wholly-owned subsidiary Newmont Golden Ridge Ltd (the "target company" of the transaction) today, and Jinyuan International intends to invest US$1 billion ( Approximately RMB7.071 billion, of which US$900 million will be paid at closing, and the remaining US$100 million will be paid after the extension of the mining lease is confirmed by the Ghana Parliament or similar conditions are met), acquiring 100% of the equity interest in the target company ("Newmont Golden Ridge Ltd") held by Newmont. The target company, Newmont Golden Ridge Ltd, owns 100% of the Akyem Gold Project in Ghana (IIR According to the announcement, the transaction is subject to the filing or approval of the regulatory authorities of the two countries, and according to the Ghana Mining Law, when the target company pays dividends to shareholders, the government has the right to pay 10% dividends).
In the 80s of the last century, Chen Jinghe, who graduated from the Department of Geology of Fuzhou University, first proposed the prediction of the "upper gold and lower copper" zone of the Purple Mountain, which was verified since then, making the Purple Mountain gold and copper mine one of the important metal deposits discovered during the "Seventh Five-Year Plan" period in the mainland.
In 1986, Shanghang County Mining Company, the predecessor of Zijin Mining, was formally established. In 1992, Chen Jinghe took the initiative to give up the "iron rice bowl" of the youngest senior engineer of the Fujian Provincial Geological Bureau, and asked Ying to go to Shanghang County Mining Company as the general manager, responsible for the development of Purple Mountain. In 1993, the first barrel of 9.3 kilograms of gold was dug up in Zijin Mountain, and in the same year, "Shanghang County Mining Company" was renamed "Shanghang County Zijin Mining Corporation".
In 2000 (when the shareholding system was completed and today's "Fujian Zijin Mining Co., Ltd." was established), the total assets of "Zijin Mining" have reached about 600 million yuan, and the annual sales revenue is about 400 million yuan, which is 200 times that of 8 years ago.
In 2003, Zijin Mining was listed in Hong Kong and listed on the A-share market in 2008. Since then, Zijin Mining has expanded its business nationwide and began to implement the internationalization strategy, through a number of mergers and acquisitions at home and abroad, and now "Zijin Mining" has important mining investment projects in 17 provinces (regions) in China and 15 overseas countries (such as Tibet Julong Copper Mine and Juno Copper Mine, Heilongjiang Duobaoshan Copper Mountain Copper Mine, Fujian Zijin Mountain Copper and Gold Mine, Xinjiang Ascher Copper Mine, Shanxi Zijin, Guizhou Zijin, Longnan Zijin, etc.); Overseas Chukalu-Padge copper and gold mines in Serbia, Kamoa copper mines and Kolwezi copper mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rosbel gold mines in Suriname, Buritica gold mines in Colombia, etc.).
In 2021, Zijin Mining proposed to build a "green high-tech super-first-class international mining group" and accelerate its entry into the new energy and new material industry, and in 2022 alone, "Zijin Mining" acquired 3Q salt lake lithium mine in Argentina (100% interest), Tibet Lagoco salt lake lithium mine (70% interest), and Hunan Daoxian Xiangyuan hard rock lithium polymetallic mine (66% interest).
Also in 2022, "Zijin Mining" also acquired a controlling stake in "Longking Environmental Protection" (15.02%), a 20% stake in "Zhaojin Mining" (acquired through a subsidiary to become the second largest shareholder) and a 30% stake in Haiyu Gold Mine, and a Rosebel gold mine in Suriname in South America (announced in October 2022 to acquire a 95% stake with a transaction value of US$360 million and be completed in early 2023), which can be said to be "Zijin Mining" in 2022 A small peak of acquisitions.
As for the "Akyem Gold Mine", which is the target of Zijin Mining's acquisition, it is located on the world's major gold metallogenic belt, which is a typical orogenic gold mine and is one of the largest gold mines in Ghana. From 2021 to 2023, the Akyem mine produced 11.9t, 13.1t and 9.2t of gold, respectively. As of the end of 2023, the Akyem Gold Mine had a gold resource (excluding reserves) of 54.4t at an average grade of 3.36 g/t; The reserves are approximately 34.6 tonnes at an average grade of 1.35 g/t, with a further 83 tonnes classified as underground mining reserves (according to the Newmont announcement).
Founded in 1921 and headquarter United States ed in Colorado, Newmont Corporation, the seller of the Akyem gold mine, is a leading global gold company and producer of copper, zinc, lead and silver.
In February 2011, Newmont acquired Canada's Fronteer Gold for C$2.3 billion, making it the world's second-largest gold producer; In January 2019, it acquired Canada Goldcorp for $10 billion, becoming the world's largest gold miner, a deal that also broke records at the time and became the largest merger and acquisition in the history of gold mining.
In 2023, Newmont spent another 28.8 billion Australian dollars (about 19.2 billion US dollars) to acquire Australia rival Newcrest Mining, once again setting a new trading record in the history of gold mining.
Recently, Newmont began to adjust its strategy, and in February this year, Newmont announced plans to divest non-core assets to focus on the primary assets in its portfolio, and in our familiar words, the M&A freak has also begun to "deleverage".
In September, Newmont agreed to sell its 70% interest in the Telfer mine and Havieron gold-copper project in Western Australia to Greatland Gold for US$475 million; Its sale of the Akyem gold mine to Zijin Mining is just another implementation of its divestiture plan.
As of the end of 2023, Newmont intends to sell the target company (i.e., "Newmont Golden Ridge Ltd", which owns a 100% interest in the Akyem Gold Project) with total assets of US$1.227 billion, total liabilities of US$518 million and net assets of US$709 million, and sales revenue of US$574 million and net profit of US$128 million in 2023.
In response to the acquisition, Zijin Mining said that the transaction is in line with the company's development strategy, which is conducive to further cultivating the company's gold sector resource reserves, rapidly increasing the company's mineral gold production, and helping the company achieve its planned output target in the next five years.
In 2023, Zijin Mining produced 68 tonnes of gold from minerals; The sales revenue of the gold business accounted for 42.09% of the operating income (after offsetting) and the gross profit accounted for 25.35% of the Group's gross profit during the reporting period.
In May this year, Zijin Mining released a "five-year development plan", according to the latest plan (which is updated to a certain extent), the company's mineral gold targets for 2025 and 2028 are 85 tons and 100-110 tons respectively.
Also in the chairman's speech in Zijin Mining's 2023 annual report, Chen Jinghe wrote that in the face of world uncertainty and currency flooding, gold is the "ballast stone" of financial security. "Zijin Mining" owns a number of world-class gold assets such as the Rosbel Gold Mine in Suriname and the Buritica Gold Mine in Colombia; The Bogra gold mine in Papua New Guinea, one of the world's top 10 gold mines, has resumed production; Coupled with the construction of a number of medium-sized gold mines, the gold output of "Zijin Mining" will achieve sustained and rapid growth.