BEIJING/HONG KONG, July 30 (Reuters) - Zijin Mining Group Co Ltd 601899.SS2899.HK, one of China's top gold miners, on Friday reported a 174.6% surge in net profits for the first half of the year, thanks to surging gold and copper prices driven by the global economic recovery.

In the first six months, the mining giant earned 6.6 billion yuan ($1.02 billion), it said in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. That was up from a net income of 2.4 billion yuan in the first half last year and beat the 6.5 billion yuan it earned in total in 2020.

"Major countries' monetary policies remained loose (in the first half)... gold prices had been running at high levels," according to Zijin.

Meanwhile, the energy transition push around the world had sent copper prices to ten-year highs, said the company, adding the supply-side still faces uncertainty due to the pandemic situation.

The miner produced 150 tonnes of gold in the first half, falling 7.58% from the same period a year earlier, said the company.

Copper output during January-June rose 6.5% from a year earlier to 555,782 tonnes, said the company.

For the second half of the year, Zijin expects to see its copper production to increase by 90,000 - 100,000 tonnes from projects in Serbia and DRC and about two more tonnes of gold from the Cukaru Peki copper-gold mine.

It would also actively promote the resumption of the Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea, said the company, without giving further details.

The company, along with Barrick Gold Corp ABX.TO, had been trying to resume operations at the Porgera mine after local government refused an extension of the expired lease.

Zijin's share price on the Shanghai bourse closed at 10.25 yuan per share and HK$11.02 on the Hong Kong Exchange on Friday.

Source: NASDAQ

Sobre Zijin Mining
Zijin Mining es una empresa líder mundial en el sector de metales y minería, y uno de los mayores productores globales de oro, cobre y zinc. Con más de 30 operaciones y proyectos mineros de gran escala distribuidos en 19 países y 5 continentes, la compañía aprovecha sus sólidas capacidades internas de investigación, ingeniería y desarrollo para mantener una alta eficiencia operacional y bajos costos, tanto en adquisiciones como en operaciones. Este enfoque le ha permitido consolidarse como referente en la creación de valor, respaldado por su filosofía de desarrollo compartido y sustentado por un desempeño superior en materia ambiental, social y de gobierno corporativo. Las acciones de Zijin cotizan en la Bolsa de Hong Kong (HKEX: 2899) y en la Bolsa de Shanghai (SSE: 601899).