(Yicai) July 9 -- Zijin Mining’s shares jumped after the Chinese mining giant said it expects profit to have risen by as much as 50 percent in the first half of this year thanks to an increase in gold, silver, and copper prices.

Zijin Mining [SHA: 601899] closed 2 percent higher at CNY18.82 (USD2.59) a share in Shanghai today. Its Hong Kong-traded stock [HKG: 2899] climbed 1.7 percent to HKD17.82 (USD2.28) as of 3.50 p.m. 

Net profit likely rose 41 percent to 50 percent to between CNY14.6 billion and CNY15.5 billion (USD2 billion and USD2.1 billion) in the six months ended June 30 from a year earlier, the Longyan-based firm said yesterday.

Zijin Mining’s major mineral product output increased in the period, with that of mineral gold jumping 9.6 percent to about 35.4 tons, that of mineral copper rising 5.3 percent to around 518,000 tons, and that of mineral silver climbing 1.3 percent to 210.3 tons, according to the company.

International gold prices have hit record highs multiple times since the beginning of this year. Gold futures on the Comex in New York Mercantile Exchange successively exceeded the USD2,200, USD2,300, and USD2,400 thresholds since March, while the Comex copper price surged more than 18 percent.

The COMEX gold price was USD2,363.50 per ounce as of yesterday and it still has room to grow in the second half of this year, Liu Tingyu, a manager of gold industry equity exchange-traded funds, told Yicai.

Hikes in the price of products have resulted in jumps in upstream miners’ outputs and sales, boosting their business performance, according to industry insiders. Companies with high-quality gold mine resources will boast relatively better profitability, they added.

However, attention needs to be paid to risks regarding fluctuations in raw materials prices and whether the recovery of the ability to consume will continue, the industry insiders pointed out.

Editor: Martin Kadiev