China's gold output rose 11.3 percent to 313.9 tons in 2009 and accounted for 13 percent of the global gold production. Fu Ding / For China Daily

Shandong Gold Mining Group plans to expand its bullion output and also grow inorganically through overseas acquisitions, a company source told China Daily on Thursday.

The bullion producer plans to increase gold output by 20 percent to 30 tons this year to cash in on the growing demand for the yellow metal in China, said the source on condition of anonymity.

Bullion investments have risen sharply in the past few months as the realty and capital markets have turned bearish.

Shandong Gold is also planning to invest in overseas mining assets, especially in South America, and mineral-rich countries like Canada and Australia, he said.

The company will look to invest in new regions like Argentina, Chile and Brazil especially in copper, zinc and lead resources and also boost its gold projects presence in Canada and Australia.

Shandong Gold has been active in making domestic acquisitions. Its listed arm Shandong Gold Mining Co Ltd last month paid 166.6 million yuan ($24.4 million) to acquire the balance 49 percent stake it did not own in the Qingdao-based Xinlai Mining Industry Co Ltd to boost gold reserves.

However, the company has so far made only one overseas acquisition, a mineral project in Venezuela. The project has been withdrawn and sold back to the Venezuelan government, the source said.

The plan to look at overseas buys afresh indicates the company's serious intention to expand its global footprint for more resources.

China, which dominated the global resources transactions market in 2009, will make more investments in overseas resources this year, said Poh Lee Tan, global director of law firm Baker & McKenzie LLP.

She said her firm has seen Chinese investments in Latin America and Africa increasing through resource buys and local infrastructure construction.

"We've seen growing interest from Chinese companies to invest in Latin America for resources like iron ore, copper, and lithium, and we expect a 30 percent growth in transactions between China and Latin America this year," said Erik Bethel, chief executive officer of SinoLatin Capital, the first merchant bank focused exclusively on cross-border transactions between China and Latin America.

China, the biggest gold producer and third largest gold consumer in the world, is expected to report higher gold output this year, according to Zhang Bingnan, vice-president of the China Gold Association.

The nation's gold output in 2009 increased 11.3 percent year on year to 313.9 tons and accounted for 13 percent of the global gold production last year.

During the first four months of this year, gold output reached 99 tons, up 5.6 percent year on year. The growth in gold output is still the fastest in the world due to the strong investor demand.

Shanghai-listed Shandong Gold Co Ltd reported an 11.86 percent increase in net profit for 2009 due to a higher output of 17.67 tons and surging yellow metal prices.

By Zhang Qi (China Daily)