Zijin Mining Founder Chen Jinghe Retires After 40 Years

Zijin Mining Group (HKEX:2899,SHA:601899,OTC Pink:ZIJMF) founder Chen Jinghe is stepping down after four decades at the helm, retiring as chairman and transitioning to honorary chairman and senior consultant.

According to Bloomberg, Chen’s retirement announcement came from a Saturday (November 29) exchange filing, where he declined renomination to the board for “age and family reasons.”

At the time of this writing, the company had not yet chosen a successor.

Chen, a trained geologist, founded the company in the 1980s with a small gold deposit in Southeastern China.

Under his leadership, Zijin pursued an aggressive expansion strategy anchored on gold and copper, transforming a provincial operation into a global competitor.

The group’s market value surpassed US$100 billion for the first time this year, placing it behind only BHP (ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BHP) and Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO,NYSE:RIO,LSE:RIO) among publicly listed miners.

In Saturday's filing, Chen said it was “the best time to transition to a new leadership,” adding that a company with lasting success should evolve from being “founder-driven” to “institution-driven.”

The leadership change also caps a year shaped by both financial and organizational milestones.

In late September, Zijin’s Shanghai-listed shares closed at an all-time high, lifting its market capitalization to about US$132.4 billion and reinforcing its status as one of the most valuable mining companies globally.

Zijin Gold International (HKEX:2259,OTC Pink:ZJNGF) went public in Hong Kong in a blockbuster offering in late September after a one day postponement caused by Super Typhoon Ragasa.

Priced at 71.59 Hong Kong dollars per share, the company's initial public offering raised nearly 25 billion Hong Kong dollars, making it the world’s second largest listing of 2025.

The stock soared more than 60 percent on its debut, buoyed by gold prices that hit new peaks on the same day. The metal touched what was then a record of US$3,839.19 per ounce, extending a rally driven by safe-haven demand.

In 2024, Zijin produced 1.3 million ounces of gold, placing it ninth globally in estimated reserves.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.