Zijin Mining (2899.HK): Takeaways from Julong Site Visit Investor Meeting on Day 2

Citi attended a site visit held by Zijin Mining to Julong Copper in Tibet, China, and attended an investor meeting on 16 Sep with management. The Xianglong, Lakkor Tso, and Xiongcun projects were presented at the meeting. The unit cost of mine copper is expected to be Rmb47-48k/t for both the Xianglong project and the Xiongcun project, before the by-product credit. The Xianglong project mainly processes oxide ore with a lower recovery ratio at the beginning of the operation while management expects the cost will be lower after 2031E with less % of oxide ore. Xianglong: copper resource of 2.9mnt with a grade of 0.48%, total capex of Rmb8.4bn for phase 1, and 76ktpa copper capacity expected to be in trial production by YE2026 with output guidance of 60kt+ in 2027E. Lakkor Tso: lithium resource of 2.16mnt LCE with grade of 240mg/L; in 8M26 LiOH output was 10.9kt and lithium carbonate output was 4.0kt, with production cost of ~Rmb35k/t currently;