Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Zijin Mining Group Co., China’s largest gold miner, said it missed opportunities to acquire overseas projects as the metals market rebounded “too fast” after the global financial crisis.

“If the dip could have lasted for one or two years, we would have taken the advantage of the low prices to complete our overseas merger and acquisition projects,’’ Chairman Chen Jinghe said in an interview in Tianjin today, declining to name the deals. “We will continue to look for such opportunities now.’’

China, undeterred by its failure to invest in London-based Rio Tinto Group, is boosting spending on oil and mining acquisitions by at least half this year to take advantage of lower valuations after prices slumped. Rio, the world’s second- largest iron ore supplier, rebuffed a $19.5 billion investment from Beijing-based Aluminum Corp. of China in June in favor of a share sale and a joint venture with rival BHP Billiton Ltd.

“A delay in timing in the decision process and the lack of flexibility in the changing situation are among the reasons some Chinese companies have failed in merger and acquisition deals overseas,’’ Mike Elliot, global mining and metals sector leader at Ernst & Young, said in Tianjin today.

Shanghang, Fujian province-based Zijin is pursuing a gold mining project in Tajikistan, Chen said today. The company recently bought a 50 percent stake in Zijin Copper.

Dollar to Weaken

The dollar is poised to decline further in the next year, a prospect that will continue to support the gold prices, Chen said, declining to give a price forecast for the bullion.

Bullion, which usually moves inversely to the dollar, is on course for a ninth annual gain after the dollar dropped 6.6 percent this year against a basket of six currencies. Demand for gold as a store of value and hedge against inflation rose as governments spend trillions of dollars to combat the worst recession since World War II.

China’s gold output in the first eight months gained 15.5 percent after the country last year became the world’s largest producer of the metal. Production rose to 200.2 metric tons of gold in the first eight months, with five top producers contributing 40 percent of it, according to the China Gold Association estimates.

To contact the reporters on this story: Feiwen Rong in Beijing at frong2@bloomberg.net; Xiao Yu in Beijing at yxiao@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 21, 2009 04:09 EDT