Dear investors and friends, good morning. My name is Zheng Youcheng, Secretary of the Board of Directors of Zijin Mining. Welcome to the 2023 annual results presentation of Zijin Mining. This presentation is held in Xiamen and Hong Kong and is being livestreamed to global investors through the Shanghai Stock Exchange Roadshow Center. We also have a link for you to listen to the English simultaneous interpretation of this event live. Investors can listen and watch this event through the internet, telephone connection, and interactive platforms. You can also submit questions and suggestions to us via telephone or online platforms. Members of Zijin's management present at today's presentation are Mr. Chen Jinghe, Executive Director and Chairman, Mr. Zou Laichang, Executive Director, Vice Chairman and President, Mr. Xie Xionghui, Executive Director and Vice President, Mr. He Fulong, Independent Director, Chief Independent Director, Mr. Wu Honghui, CFO.
Today's results presentation is divided into two parts. The company's management will first introduce the company's operational and ESG work in 2023, which will then be followed by a Q&A session with the investors. First, I will give the floor to Mr. Zou Laichang, Vice Chairman and President of Zijin Mining, for his opening remarks. Investors and dear friends, welcome to the 2023 annual results presentation of Zijin Mining. First, on behalf of Zijin Mining, I would like to sincerely thank our investors and friends from all walks of life for your interest in and their long-term support and trust of Zijin Mining. Through this event, we hope to brief you on Zijin's operations and development plans. We are also eager to listen to your opinions and suggestions. In 2023, Zijin celebrated its 30th anniversary under the strong leadership of the board and Chairman Chen Jinghe.
We navigated through complex and challenging global economic conditions and the impacts of geopolitical conflicts. We implemented the overarching principle of improving quality, controlling costs, and boosting profitability. As a result, we successfully achieved the first objectives of our second phase of 10-year development strategy. In 2023, through exploration and M&A and exploration, key projects have been developed, and we have experienced explosive growth in our production volume. We produced 1.1 million tons of mined copper, ranking 5th in the world. We produced 68 tons of mined gold, ranking 7th globally, and 470,000 tons of mined zinc and lead, 4th globally. Our global operational capability and ESG performance continue to improve. We gained stronger recognition in the global capital markets. At the end of 2023, our A and H shares rose by 27% and 24%, respectively, year-on-year.
Our commitment to sharing development fruits has also been strengthened. In 2023, we made a direct economic contribution of CNY 324.7 billion and invested nearly CNY 200 million in external relations and public service projects. We also implemented a new Employee Stock Ownership Plan and an annual profit distribution plan. In 2024, we will focus on quality, cost, and profitability and unleash the production capacity of existing mines and move faster to mobilize and monetize our construction projects in copper, gold, and lithium. We will also improve ESG performance and our capability in operating international projects and build our global competitiveness to achieve green, high-quality, and safe development. Again, I thank you for your support and trust. We believe that with your support and the hard work of the over 50,000 employees of Zijin Mining, we will forge and embrace a better future. Thank you.
Now, I would like to invite our CFO, Wu Honghui, to present our operational performance in 2023.
Investors and friends who are interested in Zijin Mining, good morning. I'm honored to be here to brief you on our operational performance in 2023. Regarding our global footprint and our operational highlights, these have already been detailed in our annual report, so I will not elaborate on that. First, a review of our financials. During the reported period, we achieved a revenue of CNY 293.4 billion. We achieved a profit of CNY 31.3 billion. Net attributable profit was CNY 21.1 billion. Our net operating cash flow, CNY 36.9 billion. We, in 2023, stepped up management of receivables and payables. Our key issue that we want to bring to your mind is that we earned more than CNY 3 billion from the shares in Ivanhoe and another company that we hold.
Our attributable net asset also increased. Our debt ratio is 59.66%, equal to that of the previous year. We also attach great importance to investor returns. Since we got listed, we paid a dividend of more than CNY 445 billion. In 2023, we focused on quality, cost, and profitability and improved our ranking in the global sector. Our ranking by revenue was 5, by net attributable profit, 6, and 8 by total assets. We have world-class copper, gold, and lithium assets. During this period, our sales revenue of copper, gold, zinc, silver, and iron ore have also reached, respectively, 42%, 25%, 29%, and 3.5%. By the end of the reporting period, we have 745.6 million tons of copper resources of 1.2% year-on-year.
During this period, we had a historic breakthrough in mined copper production, becoming the only miner in China and in Asia to produce more than 1 million tons of copper. This is equivalent, actually, to 62% of China's production that we have produced last year. During this period, our copper and gold concentrate cost was nearly CNY 20,000, and our copper produced from solvent extraction, the cost is CNY 29,862, up 25%. Compared to our global peers, our C1 cost of copper is still low. Energy costs have been rising, driving up costs. Kamoa has seen a significant rise in costs, and there's also big declines in head grades and a higher share of low-grade ore. These are the contributing factors. During this period, we had 2,998 tons of gold resources. We produced 67.7 tons of mined gold, up more than 20%, which is equivalent to 23% of China's total.
We rank 7th in terms of gold production in the world. During this period, our gold net cost is 286 CNY per gram. Compared with global peers, our AISC cost is low in terms of mined gold. Rising costs of gold were due to forex fluctuations and other factors. By the end of this period, we owned 939 tons of zinc, ranking 4th in terms of zinc resources. Attributable zinc resources, we are China's 1st, the world's 4th, and one of the top zinc miners in the world. During this period, our zinc cost was more than 9,000 CNY and up 15.8%. This was due to forex rate and lower feed grades. By the end of the period, we owned more than 13 million tons of lithium resources. We produced nearly 3,000 tons of LCE. We rank 12th in terms of silver resources.
We rank also 12 in terms of other resources. For other minerals, there's not much changed, so I won't elaborate on that. Updates on projects. Our copper segment, first in Tibet, the first project is Qulong Copper. We have Qulong Copper and Zhibula Copper. These are world-class porphyry projects. The total resources is more than 19 million tons, and copper production in 2024 will be 166,000 tons. And after the commissioning of the phase I and II projects, annual throughput will reach more than 100 million tons, and copper production will reach about 300,000 tons, which will become the largest copper mine in China. In the end, we will achieve nearly 200 million tons of throughput and nearly 600,000 tons of copper production for this project. We are also advancing other projects like Julong Mining and the operation of the Yulong Copper Project in Tibet.
Our copper segment in the DRC in Congo, Kamoa-Kakula, has 42.66 million tons of copper resources. After the debottlenecking projects of phase I and II were commissioned, now we are advancing phase III of the project. After it is commissioned, the production will reach 600,000 tons, and the 500 KTPA blister copper smelter will be commissioned in Q4 2024. We are also looking at new expansion projects. The Kolwezi Copper Mine, this company has 2.51 million tons of copper and 38,000 tons of cobalt. Kolwezi is an example of our innovation practices in Africa. We will make one of its projects, the first green project of mining in the DRC, to cover and the Čukaru Peki project in Serbia.
It has 1.14 million tons of copper resources in the Upper Zone and 58 tons of gold in the Upper Zone and 18.55 million tons of copper resources in the Lower Zone. In 2024, the production guidance is 117,000 tons and 2.6 tons of gold. The Lower Zone of Čukaru Peki will be developed through block caving. Pre-feasibility studies have been completed, and licensing is being advanced. The block caving for Jama Project is also being advanced. By 2025, these two large projects will be expanded, and the production capacity will reach 300,000 tons per annum, which will make us the second largest copper producer in Europe. In the future, their combined output of copper will reach 500,000 tons, which will likely make us one of the largest copper producers in Europe. Key gold projects, Rosebel Gold Mines was a newly acquired project in 2023.
It has 193 tons of gold resources. The production guidance for 2024 is 7.9 tons. It is one of the largest open-pit gold mines in South America, and the main ore body is still open. There's huge potential for growth in resources. The Buriticá Gold Mine, the production guidance for 2024, 8.6 tons. It is a world-class ultra-high-grade gold mine. It is the largest modern underground mine. It is regarded as a national strategic project. The third one is Porgera Gold Mine. It has 418 tons of gold in terms of resources, and we plan to produce 2.1 tons of gold for this project. It is one of the top 10 gold mines in the world and the number 2 gold mine in PNG. It resumed production in December 2023 and has an LOM of over 20 years.
This year, we are about to have an attributable gold production of approximately 5 tons. We are going to talk about Norton Gold Fields. It has 356 tons of gold resources. This is the largest gold producer in Australia. It has a highly promising concession of over 1,000 kilometers. Longnan Zijin has 137 tons of gold resources. The newly built Jinshan Gold Mine has been commissioned, and it has obtained approval for its safety facilities. The trial production has started. Shanxi Zijin has 109 tons of gold resources. It is the largest gold mine in Shanxi Province. This is our gold mine, Sawayaerdun, in Xinjiang. It has low-grade resources of 159 tons. It plans to produce 1.0 tons of gold in 2024. It is a rarely seen 100-ton underdeveloped ultra-large gold mine in China.
It is located in Central Asia Gold Belts with very good mineralization, and we own 20% share in Zhaojin Mining. The 12,000-tons-per-day processing project is expected to be commissioned by 2025. By that time, the project is going to be the largest gold mine in China. Guizhou Zijin, it has 181 tons of gold. It plans to produce 2.5 tons of gold in 2024. I will talk about lithium mines. Lakkor Tso Lithium Project in Tibet, it is a very few large-size quality lithium salar in China. In terms of resources, it ranks number top 5 in China and top 20 across the world. This project is expected to produce 20,000 tons of lithium hydroxide after the phase I is completed. The second project is the 3Q Lithium Salar in Argentina.
It is located in South America, and it is one of the largest and highest-grade projects of its kind across the world. Phase I is going to be commissioned this year, and the second phase is now undergoing very well. The third one is the Hunan Daoxian hard rock lithium mine. It is a very rare, large-size, low-grade hard rock lithium mine. It has different kinds of associating metals. Phase I has been completed, and phase II is undergoing very smoothly. It is expected to be commissioned by the second quarter of 2025. The fourth one is the Manono Lithium Mine in the DRC. It is the largest lithium LCT mine that has been discovered in the world. It has very good conditions for large-scale open-pit mining, and we plan to complete construction in the two years after we completed our feasibility study.
We will also proceed simultaneously with the construction of a copper smelting industrial garden. Now I will talk about our plans in 2024. In this year, we will continue to improve quality, control costs, and boost profitability. We will take more actions to control risks, to reform, to innovate, in order to maximize our economic and social benefits and develop our global competitiveness. In 2024, we plan to produce 1.01 million tons of copper, 68 tons of gold, 470,000 tons of zinc, and lead. And if you have any questions about our financials in the annual reports, we are very welcome to your comments and feedback.
Thank you, Mr. Wu. As an important participant in the global mining company, we adhere to the mission of mining for a better society and shared developments. We have embedded the concept of ESG throughout our businesses.
Now I would like to invite Executive Director and Vice President of Zijin Mining, Mr. Xie Xionghui, to talk about our 2023 ESG performance.
Dear investors and friends from all walks of life, good morning. I am delighted to be here to share some of the progresses that we have made over the past year in ESG. So my presentation has three parts. First of all, I will talk about the structure of our 2023 ESG reports. Then I will talk about what we have done regarding main ESG areas. And thirdly, I will talk about some feedback on our ESG performance to facilitate the reading of our readers. So I will first talk about the main content of our ESG reports. This year, we have continued to use the standards that we have used in previous years, and we also introduced the IFRS S1 and S2.
This year, we disclosed 275 ESG data indicators, and for the first time, we audited our ESG practices. The assurance reports will be released along with the ESG reports. There were no big changes in the structure of these years' reports, but each section was more in line with the IFRS S1, and it's all about governance, risk management, target indicators, and performance. We only made some adjustments to the contents of each chapter. In 2023, we made our governance structure better. For example, we released a regulation for the work of independent directors, and we have participated in the governance of different ESG agendas. We have developed a complete system for ESG that covers different aspects such as policies, supervision, monitoring, assessments, and assurance as well. We have let more stakeholders take part in our governance.
It has played an important part in improving our ESG performance. For example, last year, we held many meetings with stakeholders to collect their feedback. We have also conducted ESG risk identification for different aspects. We have rolled out different measures. Last year, we have also launched a new system, the ESG Management System, which will collect information on major ESG items, and we have also given our response to certain issues. The second part is about 10 issues that our stakeholders care about. The first one is climate change. At the beginning of last year, we published our climate change response plan, and we put forward our goals and timeline for carbon peaking and achieving carbon neutrality. Through our efforts, we have brought down our carbon emission intensity, and we have improved the use of renewable energy in our operation.
So as you can see, the proportion of renewable energy has increased significantly in our energy mix. Biodiversity and land use is also a very popular issue. Last year, we conducted biodiversity screening for several projects, and we have also proceeded with our land restoration. So cumulatively, we have restored the vegetation of 6.22 million square meters of land. In terms of water resources, we continue to maintain a high water recycling rate and achieve a 100% online monitoring rate. Last year, our water use intensity decreased by 16.2%, and water recycling rates reached 94.8%, ranking number 2 across the world. In terms of waste management and solid and hazardous waste, we continue to adhere to the principle of source reduction, mid-stage control, and end-stage compliance. And we have also covered the entire process with monitoring. We have increased the utilization rate of waste to 48.98%.
For example, in Serbia Zijin Copper, we completed the debottlenecking of the smelter. After the upgrading, its emissions have been reduced by more than 90%. As for human rights, last year, we have strengthened the protection of human rights in areas such as labor, security, manual mining, etc. We have covered most of our employees with security training. In Colombia, we established a female mining and processing team with a large number of female employees participating in our mining operations. This has also been recognized by the World Gold Council. In terms of labor force, we have employees from 76 countries across the world. We have continued to improve our localization employment rates, which have reached 95.5% this year, with 14.9% of employees being female. As for the training proportion of our employees, this figure has reached 95.9%.
In terms of occupational health and safety, last year, we have seen the most severe safety incidents in our contractors. It further exposed our gap in safety management. We have learned a hard lesson from this, and we have been identifying areas that need to be improved. We have blacklisted accident contractors, placed tight control on the entry of contractors, and we have introduced various kinds of platforms to improve our safety managements. We also hired third-party organizations to help us conduct the three-year safety improvement projects. In order to improve our safety management and emergency response capabilities, in 2023, our safety investments increased significantly to CNY 2.804 billion, and the accumulative number of on-duty safety training was 1.1235 million. In terms of community management, last year, we conducted different kinds of engagement activities.
Through dialogue, communication, and mutual trust, we have expanded our community influence and win stronger community supports. Last year, we resolved 390 community complaints, held 816 community meetings, and received 24,658 community visitors. In DRC, we have a project called COMMUS, and this project signed a community project assignment with surrounding communities. We promised to allocate 0.3% of our annual turnover to the fund for the implementation of different kinds of social public welfare projects. Last year, we have four affiliates recognized by LME, and two smelters continue to be recognized by LBMA. In terms of business ethics, we continue to crack down on corruption internally and bribery externally. Last year, we have communicated our business ethics, policies, and procedures 100% with different stakeholders, and 227 reports were handled with a completion rate of 93.4%. This is the last dimension, social feedback.
Last year, we have received broader recognition from the society. For example, we were rated as the number 1 in the industry by Refinitiv and number 3 among listed companies across the world. Our ranking by Standard & Poor's is among the top 6% in the global industry. The Morningstar rating has risen to the industry average level. As for domestic ratings, we have continuously maintained a leading position. We have also received some other important honors from the society, including the China Charity Award. Our affiliated companies have received different ESG awards and recognition. That concludes my presentation. Thank you.
Thank you, Vice President Xie. Just now, our management introduced to the investors our work in 2023 and reported on our operational and ESG performance. Now we enter the second part of the presentation, investor Q&A.
Operator, please help ensure access to the conference call. The company places great importance on collecting and responding to investor suggestions. Prior to this results presentation, we have already received many questions in our IR email. We will first address the top two questions that have been raised by many investors. The first question, the overall principle for 2024 for Zijin Mining is delivering results by leveraging in 2023, your principle has been focusing on quality, cost control, and profitability. In 2024, your strategy is delivering results by leveraging reform, innovation, tailored systems, and risk control. Could Chairman Chen elaborate on this for the investors?
Dear investors and friends, I'm delighted to answer the first question. In 2023, we elected a new term of board and Supervisory Committee. We laid out the principle of improving quality, controlling costs, and boosting profitability. Costs is not about CapEx.
It's also about operating costs. That was based on our development situation in the current stage. The core is quality development. We noticed that after three years of the pandemic, all mining companies in the world, most of them have seen unit costs rising or extraction costs have also been rising at around 20%. Zijin has been no exception. Our costs have also been rising. So we focused on cost management. Through one year's work in 2023, we delivered significant results. In China, our Chinese operations have seen declines in costs. Regrettably, the trend of rising costs in our overseas projects has not been fundamentally contained. In 2023, if you look at our performance, our gold and copper production volumes grew significantly, but our profits did not grow as much. One of the reasons is that there have been rising costs in our overseas projects, which eaten into our profits.
I would like to tell you that beginning in last year, we attached great importance to operational management of our overseas projects across the board. Along the entire value chain, we have delivered initial results in this regard. In 2024, I believe that through a series of management steps, we will effectively control the rising trend of costs in our overseas projects. That's the first point on our principle of quality costs and profitability. This is a principle that we will implement in the next two years. This year, our principle is delivering results by leveraging reform, innovation, tailored systems, and risk control. Last year, Zijin Mining Group celebrated its 30th anniversary. For three decades, we've grown from a small to a large business experiencing rapid growth. Last year, we celebrated our 30th anniversary, which summed up our experience and made plans for our development in the near future.
The first phrase, that is delivering results. At the current stage, Zijin is among the top tier of the metals miners in the world. Going forward, should we pull back a bit? Given the escalating geopolitical situations, what should we do? Well, we are still proactive in our approach. We will remain committed to our global operations strategy. Mining companies are different from businesses in other sectors. There's an uneven distribution of resources in the world. You have to go to resource-rich areas, places where resources have been underdeveloped, places with advantages. Only by doing so can you grow your business. So in our new round of development, we will continue to be active and deliver results. That's the first point. Second, reform and innovation. In the new round of development, we still rely on reform and innovation to address the difficulties and issues that we face.
Last year, after we elected a new board, our main challenge that we identified is the mismatch between our growing global footprint and our confined traditional Chinese way of management and thinking. Our overseas segment, in terms of resources, production, and profits, have surpassed our domestic segment. However, many of our management methods and way of thinking are still the Chinese way of management and thinking. This will not be adequate for a leading global miner. To achieve our target, we have to carry out reform and advance innovation and tailored systems. We do not just formulate a measure in a certain meeting and make it a slogan. This cannot make us a leading miner. This takes time. It takes efforts. So at different stages, we need to look at external situations and our own realities when we find our model.
Of course, our model will be constantly evolving and adapted. Highly tailored systems and models are very important in terms of a management approach. Lastly, risk control. We are soberly aware of the overall environment. China is being contained across the world. That's a public consensus, and that's being carried out systematically. In the future, the Chinese economy and the Chinese mining sector will face greater difficulties. How should we respond to this situation? Zijin Mining is the top mining company in China, ranking among the top 10 in the world. We are striving for higher targets in the future. We will certainly become a target for others. So against this backdrop, we will be proactive in developing our business. We will also, at the same time, attach great importance to controlling risks. So we will take a series of steps.
Over the past three decades, we have been developing smoothly in general, despite difficulties and issues. But we should not slacken ourselves. We should be vigilant of the risks and bear those risks in mind. We need to make good investment decisions and control our debt ratio. In particular, we need to improve our global competitiveness as a business. These are things that we must remember. If we act on those strategic directions, I believe that in the future, Zijin will certainly achieve its target and achieve healthy growth. Thank you.
Thank you, Chairman Chen. Chairman Chen is the founder of Zijin Mining.
Over the past three decades, he has brought Zijin from a Shanghai-based business, which had a capital of only CNY 10,000, to grow into a large listed company with a market cap of more than CNY 400 billion, operating in more than 14 countries in the world, ranking among the top 10 among global miners. During our development journey, Chairman Chen has taken very seriously our development strategies. In different stages of growth, he laid out different principles and strategies to guide our growth. I'm sure that guided by the strategy of delivering results, by leveraging reform, innovation, tailored system, and risk control, Zijin will only deliver better results in the future. Let me add a few words here. China has been reforming and opening up to the rest of the world. For four decades, it has become the second largest economy.
By purchasing power, China is number one in the world. The Chinese manufacturing industry is also number one in the world. China consumes 40%-50% of the mineral resources in the world. By WTO rules, if we compete equally, then in the future, China will have very bright prospects. For Zijin Mining, we grew from a county government-owned business as a very small company. Currently, our technological capabilities in terms of exploration, mining, processing, smelting, and environmental protection, our capabilities in executing projects, in management, we believe that we are stronger to a certain extent than Western miners. However, a lot of the competition is not fair currently. There are many obstacles. We also realize that in the future, we will face many difficulties and risks as we grow our business. If it's a fair playing field, then we will outperform others.
In the future, there will be many uncertainties. We must be more aware of the risks. Thank you. The second question that we got from the investors is about dividends. Currently, regulators are increasingly emphasizing our investor returns, and they issued dividend guidelines at the end of last year. How is Zijin implementing this policy, and what is your future dividend payout plan?
Well, let me answer this question. Last year, the CSRC issued a guideline on cash dividend payout, encouraging more cash payouts and streamlining payout procedures, and putting a high emphasis on constraining and restricting companies with abnormally high dividend payout ratios. Since our flotation, we have placed high emphasis on shareholder returns. By the end of 2023, we have paid over CNY 45 billion of dividends with a dividend payout ratio of over 40%.
Our cumulative dividends over the past three years have topped CNY 17 billion. In the second half of last year, we also paid a mid-year dividend payout. Our board also attached great importance to balancing our future growth with immediate investor returns. In 2023 and between 2023 and 2025, we promise that cash dividends over the next three years will be no less than 30% of the total distributable profits accumulated over the same period. That is, every year, 30% of our profits will be paid as dividends. In the second half of last year, we held a general meeting, which agreed on a mid-term dividend payout. Last week, we also deliberated on a draft that is based on our profits. We will consider whether we will pay mid-year dividends in 2024. That is, our policy is very clear.
At the same time, you have noticed that Zijin, over the past few years, our net return on asset has reached 24%. Last year, it was nearly 22%. Such a net ROA is at such a high ROA. But during our development, we still have many expansion projects, debottlenecking projects, as has been mentioned by Xiao Huo. So in the next three to five years, we will have a new capacity of nearly 500,000 tons of copper and dozens of tons of gold and more than 100,000 tons of LCE. So in the future, we still require massive capital investments. But how to balance our expenditure and also the dividend to shareholders, we will try to find balanced points aiming to ensure good returns to shareholders while achieving rapid growth of the company.
Now, that's the kick-off of the Q&A session.
To save time and improve efficiency, please make your questions direct and clear, with no more than two questions per investor. So may I now invite the first investor to ask a question?
If you please press on your phone to put forward your question. Now, that's invite 0809 to put forward your question. Please speak out your name and organization first.
Can you hear me clearly?
Yes. Thank you, Mr. Zheng. I am Ding Yueli from UBS. I would like to, first of all, congratulate on the outstanding performance of Zijin Mining. We have seen greater transparency in your disclosure. It's a very delighted change for us. My question is about lithium carbonates. The company's planned output for 2025 remains 120,000 tons. So what's the company's strategy for the lithium market? And should we produce as much as possible or just wait and see?
Could you please share updates on the progress and cost of your lithium projects? Thank you.
I would like to give the floor to Mr. Zou for this question.
Zijin Mining's entrance into the markets is indeed a long-term strategy, not a spur-of-the-moment decision. So I think in this regard, temporary market fluctuations won't affect our plan for the lithium segments. Last year, facing the plunging lithium prices, we set up a Lithium Leading Group to push forward our lithium developments and address existing problems. It has also focused on research in the markets. And we believe that we still need to focus on our own business developments to improve our technologies, processes, and control our costs further. Recently, we have been pushing forward the construction of our lithium projects and to control its costs and to optimize processes and technologies involved.
Our Lakkor Tso project in Tibet is expected to complete construction by the end of this month and be commissioned by April. We expect to control the costs to a low level in terms of the 3Q projects. In the past, this project was mostly outsourced. Now, we are expanding the use of in-house teams. We are also communicating, negotiating with our contractors based on market conditions, aiming to further reduce our costs. We expect phase one to start production in the third quarter this year. We expect to control costs within CNY 70,000 per tonne. As for lithium mine in Xiangy uan, it has converted its exploration permit into mining license. We will push forward the construction of the concentrators simultaneously and aim to improve our production throughput to 5 million tons per year. We will also continue to push forward construction comprehensively.
We believe that after the construction is completed with the application of renewable energy and different other measures, we will be able to control the cash costs to below CNY 50,000 per tonne. The plan of our renewable segments will continue to evolve together with both upstream and downstream. Thank you.
Now, I would like to invite the second investor.
Mr. Zheng, I am Shang Yu from Citibank. So first of all, congratulate Zijin Mining on your outstanding performance in 2023 and your notable progress in ESG performance as well. I'm from Citibank. Our company is very positive and optimistic about your performance in 2024. Most of your M&As were conducted when commodity prices are at the lowest. Now, metals like copper and gold aren't cheap. So my question is that will you change your merger strategy in the future or in the short term? And will you give more attention to developing your existing projects in the short run?
Thank you for your question. You must be very clear about our M&A practices. M&A is actually a key to our success today. Anti-cyclical M&A is actually a very typical strategy of Zijin Mining. But actually, we still have some M&A deals completed when market prices are high.
For example, last year, we acquired the Rosebel Gold Mines in Suriname. It was conducted when the gold prices were high. But we spent less than CNY 400 million to acquire the project. And last year, we produced over eight tons of gold and repatriated $300 million to the parent company last year. So even though the gold prices were high, we still managed to have very good deals. And also in the lithium segments, just now, the first question was about lithium. When we entered the segments, the lithium prices were about CNY 150,000 per tonne. But internally, we believe that these costs would apply. So even though it's only one year, we have achieved to have resources of 10 million tons of LCE. Five years later, Zijin Mining is positioned to be the largest lithium producer in the world in terms of LCE production.
We have two lithium salars and two hard rock lithium projects. The four projects are being pushed forward comprehensively. We believe that if we evaluate these projects with very high prices, we still manage to find very good opportunities even when the market prices are high. You have pointed out very good points. That is, paying more attention to developing our existing projects. Now, we have 75 million tons of copper resources and over 10 million tons of LCE resources. If we can convert these resources into profits, into economic benefits, this is the most important task for us in the coming years. We won't stop our steps to acquire good projects. But the key is to find projects that can create greater value for the company.
If lithium prices go down so sharply, under such circumstances, if companies can still manage to make money, then this would be a very important achievement. Zijin Mining won't proceed with this M&A only for expanding market capitalization. This is not what we do. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Chen.
Next investor, please.
Thank you. I'm Jiang Yangjing from Cephei Investments. My question is about ESG because ESG is still a very new and popular topic. This year, we have seen the world reaching new consensus on climate and biodiversity. In the Asia market, we have also seen new regulations on information disclosure. We know that Zijin Mining is still growing rapidly. How Zijin will balance its relationship between growth and ESG? How is it going to develop its Zijin mode in the ESG field?
I will take this question. Thank you, Mr. Jiang . It's a very good question. Actually, Zijin Mining is a very aspirational company. We must earn social recognition and social support. In terms of climate change, world consensus has been reached. So we must take actions in this regard. This is an external pressure for us. Internally, we have also conducted strategic analysis.
We have evaluated risks and challenges in climate change. We have also identified opportunities as well. In particular, we have noticed that countries across the world have promised investments to deal with climate change response. But their investments combined are inadequate for achieving carbon neutrality or even the well below 2 degrees Celsius targets. So this is a very good opportunity for a metals mining company. We have reached consensus at our board of directors. Zijin Mining, since its establishment, we have paid great attention to sustainable developments. In 1998, we have put forward the concept for the coexistence between companies and the environments, as well as with the society and community. So we have been following a path of sustainable development since our establishment. So no matter internally or externally, we are fully motivated to ensure we have very good ESG performance.
So in the short term, ESG will be viewed as cost. But in the long run, it's going to be a very good investment. We have done many analyses. Our investments in ESG are going to be very profitable. It will bring us very good return. So it's a good deal in the long run. We have reached broad consensus within our own company in this regard. We have several advantages in this regard. For example, in terms of our water emission, we have placed comprehensive monitoring in this regard. This is actually an industry-leading practice in the world. In terms of biodiversity conservation and land restoration, we require all our general managers to communicate directly with communities. So in this regard, we have implemented a very good plan and a very good system of measures.
For example, why we were rated number one among global metals miners by Refinitiv, I think the answer lies in our best ESG practices. But safety is actually a shortcoming of us. So in the future, we will continue to focus more on our safety management. And we are determined and confident that we will turn the situation over. And in terms of how to communicate our ESG stories with the outside world, with the international audience, there are still many things for us to do. And we will continue to find our own model. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you for that very clear answer. Next question, please.
Next question proposed by the investor was phone number 9528. Please identify your name and affiliation. Thank you.
My name is Wang Zheng from CICC. My question is this. Amid profound changes in the world, resource and energy security is of paramount importance for China. Since 2022, China has made significant changes to its mining policies. The abolishment of Document Number 35, the push for increasing reserves and production, and the third round of strategic exploration are accelerating mining industry's development in China. What is Zijin's view on the changes in China's mining policies? What are the opportunities and challenges you have? And how do you work to achieve rapid growth in the future?
Well, that's a great question. My name is Chen Jinghe. Let me answer this question.
As you have noticed, the Chinese government has made significant adjustments to its mining policies. First, mineral resources are listed as an item for national security. It's as equal as food and energy. And a series of policies and regulations have been introduced. However, despite high-level policy releases and measures introduced by government ministries, there is still a huge gap that exists because in the long term, over the years, all stakeholders view mining development as a synonym to environmental damage. They cracked down on mining developments. And a lot of the licensing authorization has been dedicated to provincial governments. So the central government and provincial governments have different views at times. And implementation has not been steadier. The overall environment, however, is favorable for mining companies to grow in China. At the same time, there is another situation.
That is, for example, for the third round of strategic mineral exploration program, which is underway, to advance this project, the government still hopes to use fiscal budget to advance this program. Mineral resources are still managed as land use rights. If the government does not put it out for bidding, companies cannot get the mining licenses. Some companies, when they want to develop a mining license, they cannot do it because they cannot get the right to use the license. We used to rely on the government to advance this activity. But the fiscal revenues are quite tight currently. People used to apply for CNY 10 billion of exploration budget from the central government. But only CNY 1 billion was granted. That's way too small. For one company like Zijin, we spend more than that. So we need market forces to play a role.
Otherwise, it's very difficult to address mineral shortage in China. So a few days ago, we talked to a senior official in a very important ministry. And we said that there are some indicators for key metals. I told the person that we will contribute to your copper output indicator because currently, we, as a company, can do this. To address the shortage of strategic minerals in China, you still need to rely on companies and the market forces. And here, there's a lot that can be done. In many occasions, I called for changes to relevant policies. So I called for those changes, not just for Zijin. I would rather see even stricter regulation because Zijin is a top global miner. If regulation is more strict, then we can sell at higher prices, which is better for us. But now, more than 50% of China's base metals are imported.
70%-80% of strategic minerals are reported by China. If there is a commodity embargo, it will have a significant adverse impact on our economy and on China. So here, we have this context of relying on both the domestic market and the overseas market. So what should we do? Our board has made it very clear. That is, we will step up our strategic mineral investment in China and its neighboring countries. As you have seen, in Tibet, we made massive investments in copper projects and in lithium projects. In Western China recently, actually, in China's neighboring countries, we have also increased investments to respond to such uncertainties. These are strategic measures that we have taken. They also help to make us more risk-resilient. Thank you.
Thank you, Chairman, for that detailed answer. I wish you even greater results in the future.
Next question, please.
Next question, number 6545. Please identify your name and affiliation.
Thank you, management. My name is Joy from Goldman Sachs. I have a question about copper. Your copper annual production has exceeded 1 million pounds, ranking among the top five in the world. Your future growth rate will also be relatively stable. What are the other areas in terms of Zijin's business which may bring extraordinary highlights in the next few years? Thank you.
Could you, President Zou, answer the question?
Well, in fact, during the CFO's presentation and Chairman Chen's remarks, this question has been very well answered. Well, first, we will look at organic growth. That is, how should we unleash the capacity in our existing projects? And at the Kamoa project, we are advancing phase III. And phase IV is now also on the agenda. We will also prioritize more on Tibet.
Apart from Julong Copper, which has been mentioned by our CFO, we will also advance the development of the Zhunuo and Xietongmen projects. The conditions are also mature. The activities are being advanced smoothly. We are also advancing our projects in Serbia. We will make great efforts to advance the UZ2 ore body. We will develop that ore body. The lower zone of Serbia's Zijin Mining will be developed through block caving. We will advance those activities. The Jama mine will also be advanced in terms of developing using block caving. I believe these activities help us significantly increase our output. In China, Duobaoshan project has seen significant growth in reserves and has room for expansion. The Luobuling near Zijinshan mine is also being advanced in terms of development. I visited the site a few days ago.
I believe that there's good prospects and profitability in the future for this project. So through such plans and efforts in the next 3-5 years, we will add about 500,000 pounds of copper. So very promising prospects. That's my answer. Thank you.
Next question, please.
Next question posed by the investor was number 00727. Please identify your name and affiliation.
My name is Xionghui from Changjiang Securities. I would like to ask about governance. In the past few years, you released a series of guideline documents such as the Three-Year Plan, 2030 Development Goals, and the Climate Change Action Plan. You have also identified your main challenge and overall objectives. I feel that there are new developments in Zijin every once in a while. And you have focused on the right strategies. I would like to ask Mr.
He, as an independent director of Zijin and the former head of a large company, how would you evaluate Zijin's decision-making process? What makes that process unique?
Good morning, Mr. Xu. Since 2019, I worked as an independent director of Zijin Mining and a chief independent director. As a director and an independent director, we play a very important role in terms of the strategy of Zijin Mining. I feel that Zijin's board of directors is a very positive one. I'm honored to have a chairman that is farsighted and very professional. We also have a great executive director and president. Generally speaking, thanks to the good mechanisms of this company, the board has been able to play an important role in formulating strategies for Zijin. Our Strategic and Sustainable Development Committee is chaired by the chairman. I, myself, and other independent directors are members of that committee.
Generally speaking, over the past few years, in terms of strategy, we have been very targeted. This is thanks to the following three things. First, reasonable and procedure-based decision-making. This means that whether executive directors and external directors, we all value professionalism and professional skills. Also for our senior executives and members of the board, each and everyone, almost all of us, are specialized in a certain discipline. That's why we can make good judgments and be more reasonable and rational in those judgments. Second, we have adopted the right suggestions. We accepted good advice and agreed with others. Our board has been able to listen to different views. We debated to reach consensus. Despite the Chairman being an expert, the Chairman and the President are very willing to listen to differing views. So the third characteristic, that is, we look at the timing. Timing changes.
Mining markets change very rapidly as well. But our board has been able to keep abreast of the times, to advance with the times, and to get on top of geopolitics. A very important case in point is human resources. In recent years, we released the double 50 policy that is more than 50% of our employees should have a good command of English. We are good at mining disciplines. But we require global perspectives and foreign language capabilities. These are where we fall short. That is why the board said that more than half of our workforce should be able to speak English. The second, that is, more than 50% of our employees should be outside of Fujian. So that's why we have been able to form strategic consensus. In 2023, we have delivered very good M&A deals. We bought Qulong copper and other world-class mines.
Last year, we acquired the Rosebel Gold Mines, creating records in many respects in the gold market. Let me cite a few examples to reflect our capability in anti-cyclical M&A. As Chairman Chen has mentioned, the Zijin people believe in professional knowledge and skills. We do not just look at the market fluctuations. We believe in our professional judgment. One indicator is that since 2022, the average M&A cost of resources has been about $50 per ton of copper and about $70 per ounce of gold, significantly lower than the global average levels of $200 per ton of copper and $80 per ounce of gold during the same period. So that's very strong performance. In terms of strategy and M&A, these are systematic activities.
In the future, we will remain active and open-minded and keep pace with the development of the global mining industry and make Zijin an even better business. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. He. You have given me a very clear answer.
Thank you, Mr. He. He answered the question about the company's strategy on behalf of the company's independent directors. I would also say a few words about Zijin Mining's independent directors. We have six independent directors at our board, accounting for almost half of our board membership. It far exceeds the 30% requirements for public companies. Our chief independent director is Mr. He. This is actually one of the first companies to establish the chief independent director mechanism in China. We have well-established independent director mechanisms. We have different kinds of conferences. They also have very frequent on-site investigation and visits.
Last year, they have made many trips to our mining sites. We held 23 board meetings last year. Actually, independent directors have played a very important role in Zijin Mining's businesses. They are actually the busiest independent directors among Asia-listed companies. Last year, we published our independent director mechanism, which also won recognition from China's securities authorities. We have also communicated with the Public Company Association of China in this regard. Our new regulations have actually incorporated many best practices of Zijin Mining. I'm so grateful for this. Mr. He just now also talked about the dual 50 principle for the headquarters, namely the 50% English proficient experts and also 50% non-Fujian employees. We have also placed great emphasis on localization and also the introduction of internationally competent talents at our headquarters. So next question, please.
Next one, number 8297.
Please identify your name and organization first, please.
Thank you, Mr. Chen. Good morning, Mr. Chen and senior management of Zijin Mining. I'm Qiu Zuxue from Minsheng Securities. I would like to first congratulate on Zijin Mining's outstanding performance last year. So my question is that in the past two years, I have read our company's annual speech. So I have seen that the company has been facing rising costs. So my question is, how would the company take actions to deal with the rising costs, including for Timok in Serbia and Kolwezi in DRC? How would you deal with the rising costs due to great declines? And how would you effectively control your rising costs in 2024? Just now, Mr. Chen has said that in 2023, Zijin Mining has made remarkable results in controlling domestic costs. But overseas operations are still falling short in this aspect.
So my question is about Zijin Mining's measures in cost control for overseas operations. Could you elaborate on this? Thank you.
I will take this question because this is about cost control. And I have something to say in this regard. In 2023, actually, we have seen a rise in our production costs. And Mr. Chen has pointed out that we have done better in terms of domestic cost control. But the rising costs in overseas operations fail to be controlled. And there are different factors, for example, the exchange rates and the declining grade as well. So in our annual reports, we have released a table to compare our costs based on the exchange rates. And I have also talked about COMMUS as well. Its electricity cost has increased by over 80% and Serbia's Zijin Copper, over 60%. And the commodity prices have increased sharply.
The third factor is our declining mineral grade. There is another factor. That is the prolonged transportation distance at our mine sites. Production contributed by low-grade mines has increased. So the combination of these factors leads to an increase in our costs. Globally, the increase of processing and mining costs is actually a prevailing trend across the world. But we should look at the compound growth rates. It's about 6% since the 21st century. The average cost increase among global gold and copper-leading companies range between 10-20 points. Actually, Zijin's costs remain at a high level among its global peers. So in this regard, we have put forward a strategy of improving quality, controlling costs, and boosting profitability. These strategies remain unchanged in 2024.
But we have put forward more concrete actions and measures as well as assessment indicators and KPIs to supplement this. Now, we are renegotiating our contract with contractors and trying to source lower-priced supply for our production. We are now controlling our inefficient and low-return investments and to control non-production costs and expenditure. We will place a tight control on our construction investments. In particular, we will place overseas construction expenditure under our budgeting system. Fourthly, we will step up the self-operation of our mine in order to earn the money that we ought to earn. The fifth point is about our workforce. We will continue to focus on local employments and to give good pay to a quality workforce. We will continue to improve our fine management.
Through a combination of these measures, we are very confident that in 2024, we will be able to effectively curb the rising trend of costs in this year. And according to our production performance in the first two months of this year, we have seen very good results. So we are very confident that we will bring the cost of our main mineral products within the 2023 level. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Wu. Next question, please.
Next one, please, number 9158. Please identify your name and organization first. Thank you.
Good morning. I am Shi Yi. Actually, just now, the plan that you have shared has been very surprising for me. My question is that in terms of your gold segment, the growth rate is relatively slower than your copper segment. So what is the outlook for longer-term gold production growth of your company?
Mr. Shi, actually, our gold increase falls short of our copper increase. There are different factors behind this. The first one is gold reserves. We have relatively smaller gold reserves. It's about 3,000 tons. But in recent years, last year, our M&As in gold have been very frequent. For example, we acquired the Rosebel Gold Mine in Suriname. Last year, we produced 68 tons of gold. And according to our plan, our gold production will grow 10% year-on-year, although it's lower than our original plan. But it's actually a fairly notable growth. And now, we are also pursuing debottlenecking at a number of gold projects, for example, Rosebel Gold Mine. And we have resumed production at Porgera Gold Mine. And also, in Jinshan Gold Mine in Longnan Zijin, we have commissioned the new concentrator plants.
This will also contribute to our gold production and also our Sawayaerdun Gold Mine in Xinjiang. We believe that with open-pit mine commission, we will add 3.3 tons of gold production annually. The underground mine will contribute 4 tons of gold production per year. The Haiyu Gold Mine is going to be commissioned very shortly. This will also contribute some gold production. We believe that our gold production will be able to grow 10% yearly. Although in these aspects, we are trying to tap into our existing projects. At the same time, we will continue to look for appropriate and good M&A opportunities in this area. We will also adopt more cost control and management measures and apply our independent technologies to push forward our gold production growth.
So I believe that in the future, in this regard, Zijin Mining will take more actions to drive its production growth, to improve its management, to ensure our gold production growth can reach your expectation.
Thank you, Mr. Zou. I calculated myself. So there's going to be a growth rate of 80%. That's really astonishing. Thank you.
Due to the time constraints, there are still a lot of questions on the platform. So we have the last opportunity, last question. Who's going to take this question?
Number 1592. Please identify your name and organization first. Thank you.
Good morning. I'm from Senebo. So my question is about ESG. We plan to reach carbon peak by 2029. We have a very specific plan for this. And in our ESG reports, we have put forward that we will reduce our emission level by 20% compared to our original level.
So my question is that can we believe that can we take it that some of Zijin's mining operations will achieve the targets ahead of your schedule?
Hi, Mr. Lin. I will take this question. This is a very good question. Actually, at the beginning of last year, we released our climate change response plan. Internally, we have made a lot of arrangements for this. For example, we have made ESG plans and climate change response plans for our mines operations. We have done research in this regard. And as you have mentioned, some mining operations are going to be ahead of schedule. For example, we plan to reach carbon neutrality by 2030. We have taken a lot of measures and actions. And we have detailed some of our measures in our ESG reports.
Most importantly, through carbon emission analysis, we believe that power generation is still the most important aspect for us. In terms of energy use, we will make greater efforts. We have several strategies. First of all, the use of electrification and the use of clean energy. In this regard, clean energy last year, we have done a lot. For example, we replace diesel power with solar power and also wind power and even hydropower in some well-positioned affiliates. These are the clean energy that we have been investing in. We have invested a lot in this regard. In many other areas, we encourage all well-positioned companies and affiliates to push for their electrification and the application of clean energy. For example, in our processes, we have also adopted clean technologies.
In our newly acquired or in our M&A deals, we will also include carbon emission as an important factor. We will refrain from acquiring some highly carbon-intensive projects. We have been taking some measures from the source of carbon emission. Apart from this, we also done a lot in terms of technology. For instance, we have a project for ammonia-based hydrogen power. Longjing Environmental Protection has capabilities in terms of carbon absorption. So in general, I would say, of course, during this process, there might be some fluctuations and changes. We will do everything we can to deliver on our pledge. There might be some variance. But in general, we believe that we will be able to not only achieve the target but also beat those targets. Second, in terms of advantages, we take very concrete steps to implement technologies.
We have KPIs not only for senior executives but also for our affiliated companies. These will be assessed. There will be a no-excellence, no-performance, no-excellence policy. We also have a lot of requirements for the use of clean power, clean energy. We are also investing in technological research to ensure we have a good pace in terms of carbon emission reduction. I'm Chen Jinghe. Let me add a few words. Controlling GHG emissions and curbing climate change is a global consensus. So we need to cut carbon emissions. As a responsible company and a company that is quite ambitious with lofty goals, we also want to keep up pace. We have our own strategic thinking in the following respects. As a global company with global influence, we must follow global standards and requirements when we make decisions.
In this process, there are a few things to be mentioned. First, we announced that by 2029, we will peak our carbon emissions as a business. It's not just about carbon peaking. Per unit added industrial value must decline year by year and at a high rate every year. We did calculations many times. We believe that it's very hard to achieve these targets. And since you are a responsible global company, for us, we will achieve net zero by 2050. That was also a goal announced by many large global companies. So we must do that as well. To achieve net zero is also very hard for us. Despite the difficulty, we must strive towards achieving that goal. That's our attitude. In this process, to achieve these targets, as a mining company, our energy consumption is not low.
So we need to, first and foremost, use more clean energy, renewable energy like solar, wind, and hydropower to replace fossil fuels. That's critical to reducing emissions. We acquired Longjing Environmental Protection largely because of that, because Longjing is a leading business in terms of air pollution management. It has strong capabilities in manufacturing. For us, as a mining company, it's not easy to manufacture solar panels. But this company can do it. So we bought Longjing and added a business segment of renewable energy for this company. So we complement each other in terms of strength. And in a very short space of time, Longjing has developed its renewable energy business through Zijin's support. The result has been very good. In terms of M&A, we also take very seriously carbon emission indicators when we decide whether we want to buy certain projects.
Every year, we want to reduce our carbon emissions. If we buy a profitable business with high emissions, we have actually seen very attractive projects of this kind. But we said that if we buy it, then the emissions will be very high, and it will have a big impact on our carbon emissions. So we actually give up those projects because of that. So as a responsible company, we will do everything we can to follow global standards and honor our commitments. That's out of strategic considerations. It's not something that we do because it's just interesting or we have to do. In the past, we've been developing mines, and then we operated smelters. In terms of the renewable sector, we are expanding into materials. But we have to focus on certain disciplines. We only reach out as far as materials.
Further downstream, we work with other companies.
Thank you, Chairman Chen. Very concrete steps and very responsible approach. Thank you. In the interest of time, dear analysts and investors, this concludes today's live Q&A session. Should you have any further questions, please do interact with us online.
The Q&A session is closed.
Dear friends, 2024 is a crucial year for the current board and management to build on past successes to forge a bright future. It is also the first year for us to implement our new five-year plan. As Zijin has achieved explosive growth in the past five years in terms of both output and profits, in the next five years, we will continue to experience rapid growth. As our management has mentioned, this year and in the next three to five years, our plans for gold, copper, and lithium have been very clear.
We believe that by building on our successes over the past three decades, we will follow the principle of delivering results by leveraging reform, innovation, tailored system, and risk control. We will further implement the principle of improving quality, controlling cost, and boosting profitability. We will focus on strategic minerals and the mining business and plan ahead for the next five years and significantly enhance or strengthen ESG performance. These efforts will help improve our global competitiveness and contribute to global growth and the green transformation. This concludes the roadshow live streaming of Zijin Mining. Thank you.