China Gold-Mine Deals at Record After Price Plunge

Takeovers and asset purchases by producers based in China and Hong Kong rose to record $2.24 billion this year, beating last year's record $1.96 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Zijin Mining Group Co., the world's seventh-largest gold company by market value, and Zhaojin Mining Industry Co. are among companies looking to strike after the share prices of targets fell an average 53 percent since bullion peaked in 2011

"The gold declines are good for key Chinese producers to buy overseas assets," Chen He, head of overseas resources development at Zhaojin Mining, China's fourth-largest producer, with a $2.3 billion market value, said in an interview. "This year our main task is to closely watch potential targets as prices in 2014 are forecast to be lower."