Zijin’s Julong Copper Mine Phase 2: scale-up design and risk notes for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell

First reported on International Mining – News
30 Second Briefing
Zijin Mining has commissioned Phase 2 of the Julong Copper Mine on 23 January 2026, adding 200,000 t/d of new mining and processing capacity to the existing 150,000 t/d operation. The expansion lifts total ore throughput to 350,000 t/d, positioning Julong among the world’s larger open-pit copper operations by plant scale. Geotechnical and plant engineers will now be managing significantly higher pit slopes, waste movement and tailings volumes, with corresponding demands on haulage, dewatering and process water circuits.
Technical Brief
- Phase 2 completion implies new primary crushing, conveying and concentrator circuits integrated with existing plant.
- Additional mining fleet and waste‑handling capacity will be required to match the step‑change in ore delivery.
- Tailings storage facilities must now accommodate substantially higher daily slurry volumes and deposition rates.
- Process water supply, return water systems and dewatering infrastructure will see materially higher design throughputs.
- Power distribution and substation capacity at Julong will need upgrading to support expanded comminution and pumping loads.
- Slope design, monitoring and haul‑road layouts will require re‑optimisation to manage deeper, wider open‑pit geometries.
- For other large mining expansions, Julong’s phased approach illustrates the integration challenges around plant, pit and TSF.
Our Take
Phase 2 at Julong Copper Mine comes as copper is trading near record levels above $13,000/t in recent LME coverage, which likely strengthens Zijin Mining’s economics and accelerates payback on new capacity.
Our database shows several recent items highlighting constrained global copper mine supply and brownfield‑dominated growth, so a large greenfield-style ramp‑up by Zijin positions Julong as a more material swing factor in medium‑term copper balances.
With copper repeatedly tagged across 189 keyword‑matched pieces, Julong’s expansion under Zijin adds to a small group of large-scale copper projects coming online just as other producers, such as Lundin Mining, are trimming 2026 output guidance.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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