Zijin Mining Group, the largest mainland gold miner by market value, has signed a 10 billion yuan global project financing deal with Bank of China, shortly after announcing a possible tie-up with Australia's Midas Resources to develop a mainland mine.
The financing deal, which precedes an imminent A-share issue on the mainland approved by regulators, came as gold traded close to its historic high, encouraging miners to speed up project development.
The deal will facilitate the mining company's forays into overseas markets as well as domestic developments.
Zijin has mining investments in Mongolia, Myanmar, Russia, South Africa and Vietnam.
Last Friday, Zijin signed a memorandum of understanding with Perth-based Midas to form a joint venture to develop the Fuxing copper project in Hami, Xinjiang autonomous region, it said yesterday in a statement filed with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing.
Midas will undertake due diligence in the two months following the memorandum's signing, and may spend US$200,000 exploring the project within a year.