Company: CHNR
Filing Date: 2025-05-15
Form Type: 20-F
Source: 0001079973-25-000827
Chunk: 78

Company: CHINA NATURAL RESOURCES INC
Filing Date: 2025-05-15
Form: 20-F
Item: Item 4
Chunk 78
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 Technology in July 2023. See “Item 4.A. Information on the Company - History and Development of the Company — Acquisition and Sale of PST Technology Limited.” 
 Metal Exploration Activities
 Lead, Silver and Copper Industry and Market
 Lead (chemical element symbol Pb) is a supple and ductile heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. In its pure state, lead is bluish-white and tarnishes to a dull gray color when exposed to air. It is extensively used in construction, plumbing, batteries, bullets and shot, weights, solders, pewters, fusible alloys, white paints, leaded gasoline, and radiation shielding. Lead’s properties of high density, low melting point, ductility and relative inertness to oxidation allow it to be used in a wide range of applications, of which use in lead-acid batteries is by far the most prevalent. The reactions in the battery between lead, lead dioxide, and sulfuric acid provide a reliable source of voltage. Despite having lower energy density and charge-discharge efficiency than lithium-ion batteries, lead-acid batteries have stable electromotive force when discharging and steady working voltage, while being significantly cheaper. These properties and their ability to supply high surge currents and operate under a wide range of temperatures make them useful in the automobile industry.
 Lead is an internationally traded commodity, the price of which is established on commodity markets throughout the world. During 2024, prolonged geopolitical conflicts, elevated interest rates across major economies, and ongoing Sino-US tensions continued to weigh on the global economy and businesses. These factors disrupted the global commodity market, causing significant volatility in the prices of lead, silver and copper. During the year, both world refined lead production and usage decreased. Lead prices were volatile due to global uncertainty. The SHFE lead price started the year at CNY15,900 (US$2,179) per ton and soon hit an annual low of CNY15,790 (US$2,164) per ton in late February 2024. It then rose notably until mid-July 2024 and reached an annual high of CNY20,050 (US$2,747) per ton. After that, lead price declined quickly before it stabilized since mid-September 2024. The closing price at the end of 2024 was CNY16,765 (US$2,297) per ton, representing an annual increase of approximately 5.61%.
  The following table shows the world refined lead supply and usage over