Q1 net profit soars over 11 times! Western Gold: Increased volume and rising prices, plans to list in Hong Kong

Based on full-year 2025 data and this year’s first-quarter figures, Western Mining Co., Ltd. (hereinafter “Western Mining,” 601069.SH) has become one of the fastest-growing gold mining companies in terms of performance.

On the evening of April 7, Western Mining released its impressive results for FY 2025 and Q1 2026. Last year, the company achieved operating revenue of CNY 13.57B, up 93.80%; net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was CNY 472 million, up 86.09%. The company plans to distribute cash dividends of CNY 1.56 per 10 shares to all shareholders (including tax), with a total distribution amount of about CNY 142 million.

In terms of production, Western Mining produced 16.92 tons of gold products for the full year 2025 (including concentrate of gold ore and roasted sand metal quantity; standard gold production of 15.49 tons), completing 172.76% of the annual plan. This represented an increase of 7.33 tons compared with the 9.59 tons in the same period last year. It produced 82.9 thousand tons of electrolytic manganese metal and 82.9k tons of manganese ore.

Among them, the gold business provides the core drivers. Last year, Western Mining’s revenue from gold products reached CNY 528k, up 119.05%, accounting for 89% of total revenue. The gross margin was 8.99%, up 1.63 percentage points year over year.

Worth noting is that, from the perspective of business segments, Western Mining still relies mainly on purchased gold, with a very low proportion of self-produced gold. Last year, revenue from the purchased gold segment accounted for nearly 89% of gold revenue. Revenue from the self-produced gold portion is smaller, at CNY 12.07B, while its gross margin reaches 64.13%, up 19.88 percentage points year over year.

The report shows that the company’s performance growth in 2025 was mainly driven by the continuous rise in international gold prices, the release of production capacity, and the consolidation of Xinjiang Meisheng Mining, along with the expansion of the scale of the purchased gold business, which further thickened the revenue base.

The performance in the first quarter of this year is even more striking. According to the announcement, after preliminary calculations by the finance department, Western Mining expects that in Q1 2026 it will achieve net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies of CNY 450 million to CNY 560 million, representing a year-on-year increase of 1,161.38% to 1,469.71%; compared with the figures after retrospective adjustments, the year-on-year growth rate is as high as 1,797.16% to 2,260.91%.

Regarding the sharp jump in first-quarter performance, Western Mining stated that it was due to an increase in sales volume of gold products compared with the same period last year, a higher selling price compared with the same period last year, and a higher selling price of electrolytic manganese compared with the same period last year.

At the same time as it disclosed its performance, Western Mining also announced that on April 7 the company convened the 24th meeting of the fifth session of its board of directors, at which it considered and approved a resolution titled “Resolution on Authorizing the Company’s Management to Initiate Preparatory Work for the Company’s Offshore Share Issuance (H Shares) and Listing on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited.” To further advance its internationalization strategy, meet the needs of business development, and enhance corporate governance and core competitiveness, the company plans to issue H shares offshore and list them on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The company’s board of directors has authorized management to initiate preliminary preparations, and plans to discuss with relevant intermediary institutions regarding specific advancement matters. At present, listing details have not yet been determined. The company also noted that the listing of H shares in this instance requires approval by the board of directors and the shareholders’ meeting, and approval/filing with the China Securities Regulatory Commission and review by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, so whether it can ultimately be carried out remains uncertain.

A reporter with The Paper observed that since 2025, against the backdrop of elevated gold prices and industry expansion, leading domestic gold mining companies and mid-tier companies have been concentrating on raising financing in Hong Kong, pursuing internationalization, and improving valuations. In March last year, Chifeng Gold (600988.SH/06693.HK) completed its listing in Hong Kong, becoming the third “A+H” gold stock after leading Zijin Mining (601899.SH/2899.HK) and Shandong Gold (600547.SH/1787.HK).

Then in September 2025, Zijin Mining’s overseas gold segment, Zijin Gold International (2259.HK), which was spun off from Zijin Mining, officially listed on the main board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited, setting a record for the largest overseas IPO by scale among China’s mining enterprises. In addition, in June 2025, Shandong Gold’s subsidiary Shanjin International (000975.SZ) also announced that it had begun preparations for a listing in Hong Kong.

With the global gold market currently in a historic opportunity period, the international gold price rose by more than 70% throughout 2025, and it is expected to remain at a high level with range-bound fluctuations in 2026. Ongoing central bank gold purchases, geopolitical risk, and weakening monetary and credit conditions provide long-term support. According to a World Gold Council report, although global central bank net purchases of gold in 2025 are relatively lower than the level of more than 1,000 tons seen in the previous three consecutive years, net purchases still reached 863 tons. The report notes that while central banks’ intention to make a long-term strategic allocation to gold remains steadfast, their decision to buy gold is not entirely insensitive to price trends. In Q1 2026, they continued to make net purchases of 215 tons.

Against this backdrop, the global gold industry is accelerating consolidation. Domestic leading companies are increasing market share through capital operations and resource expansion, and listing in Hong Kong has become a standard route for the internationalization of gold companies.

Public information shows that Western Mining is a listed company in the gold segment under Xinjiang Nonferrous Metals Group, which is controlled by the Xinjiang State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. It is the largest modern gold mining, processing, and smelting enterprise in western China. Based on serving as the listed platform for the group’s gold segment, the company completed acquisitions of group manganese and beryllium segment assets in 2022 and 2023, respectively. It has now formed an operating model with the gold segment as the core and the manganese segment and the beryllium segment as two additional wings.

Western Mining currently has major gold production mines such as the Hatu gold mine, the Axi gold mine of the Yili company, and the Hami gold mine, as well as a gold refining enterprise certified by the Shanghai Gold Exchange—Urumqi Tianshan Xingui Metal Smelting Co., Ltd. Worth noting is that in May 2025, the company added the Xinjiang Meisheng Caterba Asu gold mine, with gold metal resources of 78.7 tons. After injecting the assets and reaching production capacity, the company’s gold metal resources increased by 245% compared with 2024, and its annual output of self-produced gold increased by more than 300%.

Since 2026, Western Mining’s share price has experienced roller-coaster-like, highly volatile swings. In January, driven by a surge in performance and expectations of a Hong Kong stock listing, the share price once nearly doubled to CNY 50.50; afterward, from February to mid-March, the share price fell to nearly half to CNY 27.20. Entering the period from late March to early April, Western Mining’s share price traded in a low-level range.

As of April 7, Western Mining’s share price was CNY 30.18, down 1.15%. Its increase year-to-date is about 13.12%, and its latest market capitalization is CNY 1.36B.