Shares in gold miner Zijin Gold soar after its biggest IPO since Ma

Quotes of Zijin Gold International rose sharply at the debut trading in Hong Kong amid record gold prices. "Daughter" of China's largest mining company Zijin Mining, which manages all the holding's gold mines outside China, raised $3.2 billion in the second largest IPO in the world in 2025 and the largest - since Ma.

Trading in Zijin Gold securities on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange began on September 30 at 56% above the IPO price of HK$71.59 ($9.2) per share. An hour after the opening of trading, quotes reached HK$120 - that's 68% above the IPO price - before correcting to HK$115. According to Bloomberg, Zijin Gold's capitalization at its peak exceeded HK$300 billion ($38.6 billion), surpassing the market value of Chile's Antofagasta, one of the world's largest copper producers.

Zijin Gold was originally scheduled to make its stock exchange debut on Monday, September 29. Due to super typhoon Ragasa it had to be postponed. The company plans to use part of the proceeds from the IPO to buy the Raigorodok gold mine in Kazakhstan for $1.2 billion and develop mining projects over the next five years.

"Zijin Gold has definitely picked the best time to go public. The continuous rise in gold prices has led to higher forecasts for all gold mining companies around the world," said Bloomberg analyst Michelle Lehn, who said the IPO valuation Zijin Gold received was 26 percent lower than its peers in the market as of Sept. 28.

Large institutional investors appreciated the attractive value and status of the "blue chip" - among the anchor buyers were Singapore's sovereign fund GIC Pte, BlackRock, Hillhouse, Fidelity and Millennium Management. They bought about half of the shares being offered, agreeing to hold them for at least six months, Bloomberg notes.

Gold price appreciation, continuing for the third year in a row, created favorable conditions for placement: investors are actively investing in mining companies, counting on further growth. On September 29, gold for the first time rose above $3800 per troy ounce on the background of the weakening of the U.S. dollar, which made the purchase of precious metal cheaper for buyers outside the U.S., and increased risks of another shutdown - suspension of the work of federal agencies of the country from October 1 due to the lack of a budget for the new fiscal year.

Zijin Gold and its parent structure Zijin Mining Group are not the only ones who benefited from the rally in the gold market by going public. The rise in shares of Indonesian PT Merdeka Gold Resources in the debut trading in Jakarta stopped only after the quotations fell within the exchange's 25 percent limit. Merdeka Gold's IPO of more than $280 million was the largest in Indonesia this year. China's Shandong Gold Mining, whose shares are already traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, floated securities worth about $500 million in Hong Kong.

The largest IPO in 2025 so far remains the placement of Chinese CATL for $5.3 billion, also in Hong Kong. In November, it may be surpassed by the American medical products manufacturer Medline - according to Bloomberg, the company is preparing a listing for about $5 bln.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor