---
title: "Ethiopia Clears Zijin's $4 Billion Takeover of Allied Gold"
description: "Ethiopia has approved China's Zijin Mining to buy Canadian producer Allied Gold in an all-cash deal worth about $4 billion, removing one of the last regulatory hurdles before the takeover can close. The purchase hands Zijin four African gold operations, including Ethiopia's first large industrial gold mine."
category: "Companies"
category_url: https://boursel.com/category/companies
author: "Hannah Blackwood"
published: 2026-07-14T16:24:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-14T16:24:00.000Z
canonical: https://boursel.com/article/ethiopia-clears-zijin-s-4-billion-takeover-of-allied-gold
tags: ["mining", "gold", "m-and-a", "china", "africa"]
---
# Ethiopia Clears Zijin's $4 Billion Takeover of Allied Gold

Ethiopia has approved China's Zijin Mining to buy Canadian producer Allied Gold in an all-cash deal worth about $4 billion, removing one of the last regulatory hurdles before the takeover can close. The purchase hands Zijin four African gold operations, including Ethiopia's first large industrial gold mine.

Ethiopia has signed off on the roughly $4 billion sale of Allied Gold to China's Zijin Mining, [clearing the acquisition of the company's flagship Ethiopian project and removing one of the final regulatory obstacles to the deal, according to the Addis Ababa business paper Capital](https://capitalethiopia.com/2026/07/12/ethiopia-clears-zijin-golds-usd-4-billion-acquisition-of-allied-gold/). The approval moves one of the year's larger mining takeovers close to completion.

## The deal

Zijin's gold unit is buying Allied Gold, a Toronto-listed producer, for C$5.5 billion, or about $4 billion, in an all-cash offer of [C$44 a share, a 27% premium to Allied Gold's average price over the 30 days before the deal was announced in January](https://alliedgold.com/investor-relations/investor-news/news-details/2026/Allied-Gold-to-be-Acquired-by-Zijin-Gold-International-in-Friendly-All-Cash-Offer-Valued-at-C5-5-Billion/default.aspx). Allied Gold's board recommended the offer, and [shareholders backed it overwhelmingly in March, with 99.5% voting in favor](https://www.mining.com/allied-gold-has-shareholder-ok-for-zijin-takeover-maintains-guidance/).

The takeover brings Zijin four assets in Africa: producing mines at Sadiola in Mali and at Bonikro and Agbaou in Côte d'Ivoire, plus the Kurmuk development project in Ethiopia. It is an acquisition of the whole company, not just its Ethiopian ground, which is why it has needed clearance from several jurisdictions.

## Why Kurmuk matters

Kurmuk is the prize. Set in Ethiopia's western Benishangul-Gumuz region, it is [on course to start commercial production around the middle of 2026 and to yield roughly 290,000 ounces of gold a year in its early years, at an all-in sustaining cost below $950 an ounce](https://capitalethiopia.com/2026/07/12/ethiopia-clears-zijin-golds-usd-4-billion-acquisition-of-allied-gold/), a cost level that would keep it profitable through most of the price cycle. Capital spending on the mine runs to about $620 million.

## A pattern of Chinese buying

Ethiopia's approval follows earlier clearances, including under Canada's foreign-investment rules and from African trade blocs, [Mining.com reported](https://www.mining.com/allied-gold-has-shareholder-ok-for-zijin-takeover-maintains-guidance/). The parties have set an outside date of July 29 to complete.

The purchase fits a wider pattern. Zijin is already one of the world's larger gold miners, and Chinese producers have been buying operating mines abroad as their domestic reserves mature. Adding Allied Gold's output advances Zijin's stated aim of producing more than 100 tonnes of gold a year, up from about 90 tonnes in 2025.

## Gold's backdrop

The deal was struck during an extended run-up in bullion. Gold rose sharply through 2025, its strongest year in decades, before easing in 2026, [according to the World Gold Council's mid-year review](https://gold.org/goldhub/research/gold-mid-year-outlook-2026). Even after the pullback, central-bank buying has stayed firm, and low-cost, long-life mines of the kind Zijin is acquiring tend to hold their value through swings in the metal's price. For Ethiopia, the arrival of a deep-pocketed operator at its first major industrial gold mine is a test of whether resource investment can translate into lasting revenue.

## Sources

- [Allied Gold to be Acquired by Zijin Gold International in All-Cash Offer](https://alliedgold.com/investor-relations/investor-news/news-details/2026/Allied-Gold-to-be-Acquired-by-Zijin-Gold-International-in-Friendly-All-Cash-Offer-Valued-at-C5-5-Billion/default.aspx)
- [Allied Gold has shareholder OK for Zijin takeover, maintains guidance](https://www.mining.com/allied-gold-has-shareholder-ok-for-zijin-takeover-maintains-guidance/)
- [Ethiopia clears Zijin Gold's USD 4 billion acquisition of Allied Gold](https://capitalethiopia.com/2026/07/12/ethiopia-clears-zijin-golds-usd-4-billion-acquisition-of-allied-gold/)