New | HK investors need more education on mining investment, says Jinchuan chief

Hong Kong took steps to boost listings by mining firms five years ago, but the chief executive of a big mainland miner says local investors still do not understand the industry.

The new chief executive of state-backed Jinchuan Group International Resources, Peter Albert, said companies had to do more to educate investors about an industry that took a long time to reap returns.

"It is hard for Hong Kong to compete against Australia, London and Canada, but Hong Kong had great aspirations to become a fundraising centre for mining firms," he said. "In retrospect, the timing was bad as it happened at the peak of the cycle … with the market going backwards since 2012, those investors expecting fast returns got burned.

"Investors in this [region] tend not to have much expertise, experience and understanding of the mining sector, which has a longer investment horizon … if you are in it for the long term, you can ride [the downturn] out."

Metals mining stocks have taken a pummelling recently amid a collapse of the mainland's share markets and a slew of weak economic data. Greece's debt and potential exit from the euro zone also soured sentiment for commodities and shares.

Hong Kong's stock exchange has worked hard to attract listings by mining firms from the mainland and abroad and improved its regulatory and disclosure regime for listings in 2010 by adding new rules specifically catering to mining firms.

Albert, who was chief executive of Hong Kong-listed Indonesian gold miner G-Resources Group for six years before joining Jinchuan International on July 1, said part of his role was to "educate" investors and give them confidence in the sector.