Designed to Be the World’s Biggest Copper Mine, Qulong Gets Up and Running

What’s new: The phase 1 of the Qulong copper mine, one of the largest such projects under construction in China, began production on Monday, according to a social media post (link in Chinese) by its operator.

The Qulong mine is operated by Tibet Julong Copper Co. Ltd., which is controlled by Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd. (601899.SH). With the combined output of Qulong and another mine Zhihula, Julong is expected to produce 120,000 to 130,000 tons of copper in 2022, according to a Zijin exchange filing (link in Chinese) on Sunday. The first phase of the mine was designed with an annual production capacity of nearly 160,000 tons.