Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd.said Sunday it will acquire a 50.1% share in a Tibet-based mining firm for 3.88 billion yuan ($547.7 million), potentially shoring up its balance sheet after the mining behemoth had a major setback in its Papua New Guinea (PNG) gold mining operations.
The company, which is best known as a gold miner, will have access to three of Tibet Julong Copper Co. Ltd.’s copper deposits, with a combined volume of 7.95 million tons of the metal, a Zijin Mining filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange said. At present, over four-fifths of the company’s copper projects are overseas.