Zijin Mining Group Company of China aims to spend as much as CNY 10 billion a year on acquisitions and expanding mines as global growth concerns drive down valuations.

Mr Chen Jinghe chairman of Zijin Mining said that “The prices of mining assets have returned to reasonable levels. The company will target gold, copper and other metals that are in short supply in China.”

There may be an acceleration of mergers and acquisitions in the gold mining industry, BlackRock Inc which manages USD 36 billion in natural resources fund. The Bloomberg World Mining Index has dropped about 16% this half as Europe’s debt crisis drags on global recovery.

Mr Chen said that the 2008 crisis passed away very quickly as governments imposed stimulus plans to save the market. Now the bullets have been used up.’

He said that the company aims to spend between CNY 5 billion and CNY 10 billion a year on acquisitions and expansion to sustain normal growth. Overseas investments face hurdles in getting approval from the Chinese government because it “may fear deals would lose money. The government should ease control and support companies seeking deals.

Zijin’s two overseas acquisition attempts were thwarted last year after it spilled acid-laced waste into a river in Fujian province. It cancelled its plan to buy Australia’s Indophil Resources NL because of delays in gaining Chinese approval and copper producer Platmin Congo after the Congo government objected.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)