(Yicai) Oct. 17 -- Shares of Naipu Mining Machinery and New Materials jumped after the Chinese manufacturer of mining equipment and related spare parts said its factory in Zambia has come on stream.

Naipu [SHE: 300818] closed 2.8 percent higher at CNY27.35 (USD3.84) a share today, after earlier surging by as much as 5.6 percent. The broader Shenzhen market fell 0.7 percent.

The plant's first phase, which began construction in 2022 and had a total investment of USD30 million, became operational yesterday, Naipu announced on the same day. It will mainly produce compound liner plates and other durable mining gear parts, with an annual output of 40 million tons, it added.

Located in Zambia's Copperbelt province, the factory will also provide customers with after-sales and maintenance services and storage, Naipu noted.

The plant neighbors the Central African Copperbelt and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a region holding 15 percent of the world's total copper reserves, Naipu said. The area has rich mining resources and a relatively dense gathering of mining developers, it pointed out.

The factory will mostly meet African mine operators' needs, increasing the influence of Naipu products on the continent while also boosting the company's domestic and overseas market shares, the Shangrao-based firm pointed out.

Naipu's durable spare parts business brought in nearly 58 percent of its total revenue last year, with overseas market sales accounting for 55 percent of the total, according to its annual financial report. The firm has or is building plants in Mongolia, Chile, Serbia, Peru, and other countries with large copper reserves apart from Zambia.

Editor: Martin Kadiev