China’s Zijin Mining Group has pulled off an improbable feat in today’s mature mining industry: a meteoric rise from an unknown local outfit to the planet’s third-largest miner by market value, all in just 25 years. With a valuation topping $100 billion last week—edging out Glencore and nipping at the heels of BHP and Rio Tinto—Zijin’s journey combines geological wizardry with audacious deal-making, and has a fair share of high-stakes drama.
In 2000, a chain-smoking ambitious geologist Chen Jinghe was poring over maps in Fujian province. Chen made a call that the Zijinshan deposit was loaded with gold and copper. He got to work dealing and digging. By 2006, Zijin was producing over 20% of China’s gold output, at around 49 tonnes.
Fast-forward through the 2010s, and Zijin morphs from domestic focus into the global arena. A $7.9 billion acquisition spree was embarked upon, spanning around 13 deals and more than doubling its domestic spend. Highlights during this period include a 49.5% stake in the Congo’s Kamoa-Kakula copper operation from Ivanhoe Mines in 2015, and an outright purchase of Australia’s Norton Gold Fields in 2011 for $230 million.
By 2023, Zijin is cracking the million-tonne copper milestone, rocketing to the world’s fourth-largest producer with a blistering 30% annual growth rate since 2020. Gold was up 20% to 68 tonnes that year, crowning it China’s top listed producer. Despite the name Zijin meaning “purple gold”, copper now claims 44% of gross profits. First-half 2025 profits surged 54% to $3.25 billion, fueled by record gold prices and copper’s bull run.
Aggressive growth always has a few undesirable chapters. In Colombia’s Buriticá mine, acquired from Newmont in 2020, thieves made off with 3.2 tonnes of gold in 2023—$200 million. A 2010 tailings dam burst in Guangdong claimed four lives amid a freak typhoon.
Zijin now spans 15 countries, from Tibet’s sky-high Julong mine to Peru’s La Arena, with lithium and zinc rounding out a green-energy portfolio. Chen is still chairman at 68, and eyes doubling Zijin’s market cap in five years.
My verdict: same growth playbook as the older peers, just executed MUCH faster by Chen.