Contribution to the social community in Serbia worth $825,000,000

Serbia Zijin Copper ranks among the largest exporting companies in Serbia and belongs to the group of business entities who had the largest payments based on taxes and fees, since it paid $484,000,000 in the name of various taxes and fees. – From the acquisition of ownership in the former RTB Bor until the end of November 2023, a total of 353,100 tonnes of copper in concentrate and 7,106 kilograms of gold were produced

SZC. – On December 18th, five years ago, Zijin from China signed final documents with the Government of Serbia, that is, a strategic partnership contract on taking over the majority ownership in RTB Bor. In this way, at the end of 2018, the Zijin Mining Group became the holder of the 63% of ownership share of the only company that produces copper and precious metals in Serbia. Since that moment, Zijin undertook to invest $1,260,000,000 in the following six years, as well as to pay off the remaining debts of RTB Bor from the past, “weighing” $200,000,000, which were a noose around the neck of the former RTB Bor.

Over the past five years, the Company has invested $2,583,000,000 in improving production, preserving the environment, increasing efficiency, opening new mines and creating new jobs. It is classified as one of the largest exporting companies in Serbia and belongs to the group of business entities who had the largest payments based on taxes and fees, since it paid $484,000,000 in various taxes and fees and made a cumulative contribution to the social community in Serbia by investing $825,000,000.

Since taking ownership of the former RTB Bor until the end of November 2023, Serbia Zijin Copper produced a total of 353,100 tonnes of copper in concentrate and 7,106 kilograms of gold.

The Company’s resources amount to 9,052,000 tonnes of copper in ore, with an average copper grade of 0.388% of metal per tonne, and 349,4 tonnes of gold in ore, with an average gold grade of 0.151 grams per tonne. The Company has four copper mines, two non-metals mines and the Smelter.

In 11 months during this year, 93,500 tonnes of copper in concentrate have been produced, the processing of which yielded 64,900 tonnes of cathode copper and 1,252 kilograms of gold.

The total number of employees in Serbia Zijin Copper at the end of November 2023 was 6,210, of which 6,013 or 96.8% are the Serbian citizenship holders, and 197 are of Chinese nationality. The average monthly net salary in November was worth around RSD 127,000, which is 87% more compared to the net income from 2018. Salaries of workers in Serbia Zijin Copper far exceed the local level of income per capita, and are 45% higher than the average in Serbia. After taking over management, more than 2,700 new, mostly young people got jobs in Bor and Majdanpek, which is the most significant contribution to the economic development of the two cities. Additionally, the large number of newly created jobs for the local population played an important role in maintaining social stability. Serbia Zijin Copper also cooperates with over 1,500 local suppliers, so the cumulative value of material procurement reaches $2,020,000,000, and over 9,000 jobs are indirectly created.

Respecting the Serbian laws and regulations on safety and environmental protection, Serbia Zijin Copper, after taking over the management, made a great effort to inspect and remove the historical heritage in these areas, and thus greatly improved the overall safety, health and environmental condition. Work in the safety segment is based on the concept of “life comes first”, and in order to effectively improve the immediate working environment, modern facilities and equipment have been installed. As of November 2023, the accident rate per million working hours was 0.65.

On the other hand, $222,000,000 were invested in improving the state of the environment and ecology. Numerous measures have been taken in terms of solving problems with dust, solid waste, flue gases, waste water and others, which have produced notable results. In an effort to build green mines and achieve harmony between mine development and environmental protection, over 3,000,000m2 of land were rehabilitated and more than 500,000 seedlings were planted. A total of 50,800 tonnes of solid and about 2,200 tonnes of hazardous waste were properly disposed of.

As a socially responsible company, Serbia Zijin Copper pays great attention to the sustainable development of the environment in which it operates and helps local governments in Bor and Majdanpek almost every day. It continuously implements a package of plans for the joint construction of social communities and conscientiously fulfils its corporate obligations. It helps numerous cultural, educational, health, tourist and sports institutions and events and directly and concretely shows that it is the engine of development of the Timok Valley and Serbia in whole.

Serbia Zijin Copper has made 199 donations by the end of November 2023 and allocated $4,950,000 for the improvement of health care, traffic infrastructure, education, sports, traditional arts, entertainment for children and other fields in Serbia. Numerous projects of great importance for the social community have been implemented as well.