Jinchuan Group

Jinchuan Group Co., Ltd. (金川集团) is a major Chinese state-owned mining and metals enterprise headquartered in Jinchang, Gansu Province. It is one of the world's leading producers of nickel and cobalt, and also produces copper, platinum, palladium, gold, silver, and selenium. The group operates globally, with business activities in over 30 countries and regions. In 2024, it ranked 300th on the Fortune Global 500, 78th on the Fortune China 500, and 78th on the China Top 500 Enterprises. Jinchuan owns the world's third-largest nickel-copper sulfide deposit. Its annual capacity exceeds 330,000 tons of nickel-containing products, including around 190,000 tons of electrolytic nickel. Cobalt output stands at roughly 17,000 tons (including 7,000 tons of electrolytic cobalt), while copper production is estimated at over 400,000 tons per year. The company's product portfolio spans nickel, copper, cobalt, precious metals, chemicals, cable, and carbonylation metallurgy series, organized into industrial segments including nickel-cobalt, copper-precious metals, overseas, battery materials, new materials, chemicals, and supply chain. Jinchuan traces its origins to June 1958, when copper-bearing malachite was discovered near Baiji Azui by the 145th Team of the Northwest Coalfield Geological Exploration Bureau. The Jinchuan Nickel Mine was formally established in July of that year, laying the foundation for China's nickel and cobalt industry. By the late 1950s, the mine was administered by Baiyin Nonferrous Metals Corporation, and in 1959 Jinchuan was founded. From the 1960s, Jinchuan developed China's first production line for nickel, cobalt, and platinum group metals. After the late-1970s economic reforms, Jinchuan was designated one of three major national mineral resource bases, becoming an important center for technological innovation. Internationally, Jinchuan has expanded through acquisitions and subsidiaries. In 2011, it outbid Vale S.A. to acquire South African mining company Metorex for $1.32 billion, which became a subsidiary in early 2012. Metorex holds interests in Chibuluma Mines Plc in Zambia (85% owned by Metorex, 15% by ZCCM Investments Holdings), the Ruashi Mine in the DRC (majority owned by Metorex, minority by Gécamines), the Kinsenda Mine in the DRC (predominantly owned by Metorex), and the Musonoi Project in the DRC (majority held by Metorex). Jinchuan also acquired the Bahuerachi Copper Project in Mexico in March 2008, which remains non-producing as of 2024. Jinchuan Group is the majority shareholder (60.01%) of Jinchuan Group International Resources Co. Ltd., publicly listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK: 2362). In December 2021, the Group was reportedly considering taking the company private. In 2023, Jinchuan Group International Resources allocated about US$236 million in capital expenditures to upgrade overseas copper and cobalt mining assets, compared with US$99 million the previous year. In late 2024, the group's investment arm, China Jinchuan Investment Holding Ltd., signed a letter of intent to acquire a 40% stake in Jinchuan Group New Energy Materials Technology Co., Ltd. for 100 million RMB, aiming to strengthen its position in battery materials. Jinchuan Group's corporate vision is to build a world-class nonferrous metals and related new materials multinational enterprise group. Its official website highlights industrial segments including nickel-cobalt, copper-precious metals, overseas, battery materials, new materials, chemicals, and supply chain, and lists product series such as nickel, copper, copper processing, chemical, precious metal, cobalt, cable, and carbonylation metallurgy. The company is active in media and news, with recent developments including the establishment of Jinchuan Group Digital Intelligence Technology Co., Ltd. in September 2026 and ongoing engagement with other industrial groups.

Jinchuan Group developed from the exploitation of the Jinchuan nickel-copper deposit in Gansu Province. Geological work in the area identified an unusually important polymetallic sulfide resource containing nickel, copper, cobalt and associated precious and platinum-group metals. In 1958, China began building the industrial base needed to develop the deposit, establishing the foundation of what became the Jinchuan mining and metallurgical complex. The project was strategically important because China had limited domestic production of nickel, a metal needed for stainless steel, alloys, defense-related applications and chemical processing. Developing Jinchuan required more than an underground mine: it involved concentrators, smelters, refineries and supporting infrastructure in a remote inland region. Over subsequent decades, the enterprise expanded its mining capacity and improved recovery of valuable metals that occur together in the orebody. Jinchang became the center of the group's activities and grew into a major industrial city. The company helped shape local transport, utilities, housing and technical institutions while building expertise in mining, mineral processing and nonferrous metallurgy. The Jinchuan complex's integrated character allowed the group to recover multiple metals and move progressively into higher-purity and deeper-processed products. As China's industrial economy expanded, Jinchuan broadened its product portfolio. Nickel and copper remained core outputs, but cobalt, precious metals, platinum-group metals, chemical products and fabricated materials became increasingly important. The group also developed engineering, equipment, research and trading capabilities connected with its resource businesses. These activities supported a transition from a single-deposit operator to a diversified metals and materials enterprise. From the 2000s onward, Jinchuan pursued overseas growth as Chinese demand for mineral resources increased and domestic companies sought to diversify supply. It participated in or acquired interests in overseas mining and processing projects involving nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum-group metals. This internationalization gave the group access to additional resources and technical experience, but also exposed it to host-country regulation, political and infrastructure risks, capital requirements and volatile commodity prices. During the 2010s and afterward, battery materials became a more prominent strategic theme. Nickel and cobalt chemicals can serve rechargeable-battery supply chains, while copper supports electrification and grid investment. Jinchuan therefore placed greater emphasis on refining, chemical conversion, advanced materials, recycling and partnerships across downstream industries. Its role in the battery-materials ecosystem is industrial and upstream-to-midstream: it supplies metals and compounds rather than finished consumer vehicles or battery brands. The group remains a state-owned enterprise linked to Gansu provincial state-asset administration. Its principal identity continues to rest on the Jinchang mining and metallurgical base, supplemented by overseas resources and downstream processing. Because the group contains numerous subsidiaries and project companies, ownership, operating status and management can differ across assets. This dossier describes the group-level brand and does not attribute every subsidiary's activities or transactions directly to the parent.

• 2020

  Battery-materials relevance increases

  [1]Jinchuan Group - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

  Nickel, cobalt chemicals, copper and related processing became more strategically important as demand grew from batteries, electric vehicles and electrification infrastructure.

• 2010

  Growing downstream and international focus

  [1]Jinchuan Group - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

  The group increased attention to refined products, chemicals, advanced materials and overseas project participation rather than relying only on domestic mine output.

• 2007

  International resource expansion

  [1]Jinchuan Group - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

  Jinchuan intensified overseas resource development and investment as part of a strategy to secure additional supplies of nickel, copper, cobalt and related minerals.

• 2000

  Expansion into a broader metals group

  [1]Jinchuan Group - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

  The enterprise continued diversifying from its original nickel-copper mining base into cobalt, precious metals, chemicals, materials and supporting industrial services.

• 1960

  Early industrial production at Jinchuan

  [1]Jinchuan Group - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

  The Jinchuan complex entered its early production and construction phase as China built domestic capacity for nickel and associated metals.

• 1958

  Development of the Jinchuan industrial project begins

  [1]Jinchuan Group - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

  China began organizing large-scale development of the Jinchuan nickel-copper deposit, establishing the foundation for the later mining and metallurgical group.

An integrated, state-owned Chinese mining and nonferrous-metals group with a strategic focus on nickel, cobalt, copper and downstream materials.

• Refined base metals · 1960

  Nickel

  Nickel is the group's historic core product and is produced through mining, concentration, smelting and refining associated with the Jinchuan polymetallic deposit and other resource interests. It serves stainless steel, nickel alloys, plating, chemicals and battery-related applications. Product forms and specifications vary by subsidiary and customer requirements.

• Battery and specialty chemicals

  Cobalt and cobalt chemicals

  Cobalt is recovered from polymetallic ores and processed into refined cobalt and chemical products. These materials are used in superalloys, catalysts, pigments, electroplating and selected rechargeable-battery supply chains. Jinchuan's cobalt business illustrates the group's strategy of extracting more value from associated metals rather than treating nickel as its only commercial output.

• Refined base metals

  Copper

  Copper is produced as a principal or associated metal through the group's mining, concentrating and metallurgical operations. Refined copper supports electrical equipment, construction, machinery, transport and power infrastructure. Copper also gives Jinchuan exposure to electrification demand beyond the stainless-steel and battery markets.

• Precious and specialty metals

  Precious and platinum-group metals

  The Jinchuan ore system contains valuable associated metals that can be recovered during complex metallurgical processing. The group has developed refining capabilities for precious metals and platinum-group metals, which are used in catalysts, electronics, jewelry, laboratory applications and specialized industrial processes.

• Advanced materials

  Battery materials

  Jinchuan's battery-materials activities center on nickel, cobalt and related chemical conversion rather than finished batteries. The products can feed cathode-material and other rechargeable-battery value chains. The group has emphasized deeper processing and materials manufacturing as a way to participate in energy-transition markets while retaining its upstream mining and refining base.

• 2020

  Two former chairmen Yang Zhiqiang and Wang Yongqian placed under investigation

  Yang Zhiqiang, former chairman of Jinchuan Group, was investigated in December 2020 and sentenced to 15 years and 6 months in prison for bribery and abuse of power by state-company personnel; his improper decision-making in futures speculation caused losses of more than 1.7 billion yuan in state-owned assets. In March 2026, another former chairman, Wang Yongqian, was investigated. Yang Zhiqiang was sentenced; Wang Yongqian's case is under review.

  Source

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• Internationalization and resource diversificationStrategy

  Background

  Dependence on a domestic mining and metallurgical base, together with rising Chinese demand for strategic minerals, encouraged Jinchuan to seek overseas resources and project partnerships.

  Action taken

  The group expanded through overseas investments, subsidiaries, joint ventures and project participation involving nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum-group metals.

  Aftermath

  The strategy broadened the group's resource base and international presence, while adding exposure to host-country regulation, infrastructure constraints, project execution and commodity-price volatility.

  Source

• Move toward battery materials and deeper processingStrategy

  Background

  Growth in electric vehicles, rechargeable batteries and electrification increased the strategic value of nickel, cobalt and copper products.

  Action taken

  Jinchuan increased emphasis on refined chemicals, advanced materials, recycling and downstream processing connected with battery and electrification supply chains.

  Aftermath

  The group gained a stronger position in energy-transition materials while remaining exposed to changing battery chemistries, environmental standards and metal-price cycles.

  Source

1. 1Jinchuan Group - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
2. 2金川集团jnmc.com
3. 3Two former chairmen Yang Zhiqiang and Wang Yongqian placed under investigationce.cn
4. 4Two former chairmen Yang Zhiqiang and Wang Yongqian placed under investigationgs.ifeng.com