China’s Zijin Mining on Monday revised down its gold production target for 2020 after Papua New Guinea (PNG) refused to extend the mining lease at the Porgera mine it operates with Barrick Gold.
Zijin, which produced 40.8 t of mined gold in 2019, was previously targeting output of 44 t this year, rising to 42 t to 47 t in 2021 and 49 t to 54 t in 2022.
However, following the PNG decision, Zijin said in a filing it would strive to "maintain the mine-produced gold production volume in 2020 about the same as that of 2019" by speeding up the upgrade and construction of the Longnan Zijin project in China and other mines in its portfolio that were already producing.