The major asset of Griffin Mining Limited is an 88.8% interest in Hebei Hua Ao Mining Industry Company Limited through its wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary, China Zinc Limited. Griffin now holds an 88.8% equity interest in Hebei Hua Ao and Yuanrun retains an 11.2% residual interest.
- subscription is required.
Summary:
A number of zones of mineralisation set within the same ore body were identified within the tenements held by Hebei Hua Ao at the Caijiaying Mine including Zone III, which is currently being mined, and Zone II, being developed for production in late 2025. Together with Zones V and VIII, all of these mineralised zones are recognised as being one ore body.
The Caijiaying Mine is located at the northern edge of the North China Craton, within the highly mineralized Yanshan Metallogenic Belt in Hebei Province, PRC. This east-west trending belt, spanning hundreds of kilometres, is renowned for hosting a diverse array of large-scale mineral deposits, cementing the Yanshan region as one of northern China’s most economically significant areas. The local geology at Caijiaying features early Proterozoic granulite and gneiss interspersed with marble lenses, which are unconformably overlain by the Late Jurassic Baiqi and Zhangjiakou Formations. The geological sequence is further complicated by porphyry sills and dykes that intrude along fault zones. Mineralization is interpreted to be associated with a Jurassic igneous event that extensively altered the ancient 2.3-billion-year-old metamorphic basement rocks.
The mine’s base metal and gold mineralization align with a distal skarn replacement system, characterized by amphibolite-grade metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks intruded by Jurassic porphyries. Sulphide lenses dominated by coarse sphalerite, alongside pyrite and galena, selectively replace calc-silicate and iron-rich amphibolite units within folded basement rocks.
Zone III exhibits Zn-Au-Pb-Ag mineralization within structurally deformed meta-volcanic units. Adjacent to the north-south Grasshopper Fault, the western sector features upright isoclinal folds adjacent the fault that transition eastward into inclined open folds, creating zones of structural complexity. Orebody thickness varies dramatically, reaching up to 20 metres at fold closures but narrowing to less than 2 metres along fold limbs at depth and toward the east. Steep to moderate westward dips and a shallow 20 degree northward plunge define the mineralization’s orientation, reflecting the dynamic tectonic history of the area.
Zone II, a continuation south of Zone III, shares a comparable geological sequence but displays heightened structural complexity and divergent metal ratios. Ongoing exploration here leverages advanced underground diamond drilling, core orientation tools, and 48-element geochemical analysis to refine geological models and identify mineralization vectors. Rapid digital implicit modelling techniques enhance targeting efficiency, though the orebody’s geometry narrows compared to Zone III, with possibly less pronounced fold hinges.
Zone II
The Mineral Resource has a strike length of 1,300 m, a width of 800 m and extends from 10 m below surface to 700 m below surface.
Zone III
The Mineral Resource has a strike length of 1,200 m, a width of 650 m and extends from 30 m below surface to 700 m below surface.
Zone V
The Mineral Resource has a strike length of 630 m, a width of 800 m and extends to 700 m below surface.
Zone VIII
The Mineral Resource has a strike length of 530 m, a width of 450 m and extends from 220 m below surface to 780 m below surface.
Commodity Production
The results for 2022 were severely impacted by various suspensions in operations for nearly five months of the year.
The results for 2024 were severely impacted by the suspension in operations during the Q4 2024 following the fatality of an employee of a contractor underground in the mine.
| Commodity | Units | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
|
Zinc
|
t
| .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | 37,413 | 37,112 | 43,403 | 31,948 | 38,560 |
|
Lead
|
t
| .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | 1,219 | 1,030 | 1,421 | 1,439 | 1,785 |
|
Silver
|
oz
| .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | 344,228 | 280,712 | 394,117 | 310,610 | 343,575 |
|
Gold
|
oz
| .... | .... | .... | .... | .... | 17,768 | 16,230 | 20,489 | 12,654 | 10,363 |
All production numbers are expressed as metal in concentrate.