The Zhitong Finance App learned that the Hong Kong Stock Exchange published an article stating that global development trends such as artificial intelligence, energy transformation and re-industrialization are reshaping the global economic landscape and are expected to drive long-term demand for metals and minerals such as copper, aluminum, lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earths.
Taking artificial intelligence as an example, when it comes to the development of artificial intelligence, people often focus on models and computing power, but behind these technological breakthroughs, it is actually inseparable from huge physical infrastructure. Whether it is the construction of data centers, semiconductor manufacturing facilities, or supporting energy and power systems, a large amount of metal and mineral resource support is required.
As far as electricity demand is concerned, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that as artificial intelligence infrastructure continues to be built, the electricity demand associated with it will increase from 460 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2024 to more than 1,000 terawatt-hours in 2030. Increased demand for electricity will also further drive demand for copper, aluminum and other key industrial metals.
Meanwhile, the global energy transition is accelerating. To meet future demand, the IEA predicts that by 2040, lithium supply will need to increase fivefold, nickel supply will need to double, and cobalt supply will need to increase by 50% to 60%. To achieve these goals, the global mining sector may require additional investment of up to 500 billion US dollars.
In addition to artificial intelligence and energy transformation, re-industrialization and supply chain restructuring are also changing the resource demand pattern in the global market.
Governments and enterprises continue to increase investment in local manufacturing capacity, key mineral supply chains and resource security, driving market demand for metals used in industrial infrastructure, advanced manufacturing, and downstream processing.
For global mining companies, this means that a new long-term investment cycle is taking shape.
All aspects of exploration, production, refining, processing, and overseas expansion require investment capital. For enterprises, international financing channels, flexible financing structures, and long-term institutional investor support are very important.
Hong Kong's mining finance market continues to grow
Faced with increasing demand for financing, Hong Kong is rapidly developing into one of the world's leading mining finance centers.
According to Dealogic data, Hong Kong is the largest market for initial public offering (IPO) financing in the global mining industry in 2025 — the total amount of IPO financing reached US$5.4 billion, while the total amount raised in the equity capital market reached US$9.5 billion, a record high in ten years.
This upward trend will continue until 2026. In the first quarter of 2026, mining companies' issuance in the Hong Kong equity capital market reached US$3.6 billion; as Indonesian gold mining company Merdeka Gold Resources completed a public sale of US$315 million on June 26, 2026, the cumulative financing amount of mining companies in the Hong Kong equity capital market further increased to US$7.2 billion by the end of the second quarter of 2026, involving a total of 24 transactions.
From resource requirements to capital formation
Hong Kong not only provides a listing platform for mining companies, a diverse investor base, but also provides a flexible financing structure to meet the financing needs of enterprises at different stages of development.
In recent years, many resource companies have issued convertible bonds and carried out share placements through the Hong Kong market, including Minmetals Resources, Zijin Mining, Luoyang Molybdenum, Tianqi Lithium, China Hongqiao, and Shandong Gold.
According to Dealogic, such fund-raising activities have led to a strong increase in the overall fund-raising scale of the Hong Kong convertible bond/exchangeable bond market. The first half of 2026 has already recorded a fund-raising amount of US$18.1 billion, which is close to the level of approximately US$20 billion for the full year of 2025.
International issuer, diversified asset base
In recent years, more and more issuers in the mining and metals industry with a global asset layout have chosen Hong Kong as a financing platform, promoting the Hong Kong Stock Exchange as a bridge for international resource projects to connect with Asian capital pools.
Among them, Indonesian gold mining company Merdeka Gold Resources completed the first dual listing by an Indonesian company in Hong Kong in nearly 20 years, and attracted a number of international traders and asset management agencies as cornerstone investors.
Issuers with international assets in mainland China are also leveraging the Hong Kong market to leverage their global value.
For example, Zijin Gold International completed a US$3.7 billion spin-off listing in 2025, showing how Chinese resource companies can independently split their overseas business to attract international investors to participate.
Kazakh tungsten producer Jiaxin International Resources completed its listing in Hong Kong in August 2025, while Nanshan Aluminum International listed its Indonesian aluminum assets in Hong Kong in March 2025.
More and more companies are returning to the Hong Kong market to raise capital to support their overseas business expansion, reflecting the important role the Hong Kong market plays in supporting the growth of enterprises. Hong Kong is close to mainland China, the world's largest industrial and important mining consumer market, and has also gathered rich international capital, so it can effectively connect these mining development projects to user markets and a broad investor base. Over the past few years, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has also continued to strengthen cooperation with resource-rich regional markets to further expand the channels for international mining companies to finance in Hong Kong.
For example, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange recently signed memorandums of cooperation with the Kazakh Astana International Exchange and the Astana International Financial Center to explore dual listings and cooperation opportunities in climate transformation, carbon reduction efforts and green finance.
Furthermore, in November 2023, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was added to its list of authorized stock exchanges, which enabled Merdeka Gold Resources to issue depository securities to be listed in Hong Kong and opened the market doors for more Indonesian mining issuers. Continued cooperation between HKEx and Bursa Malaysia is also expected to attract more Southeast Asian issuers to list in Hong Kong.
Looking to the future
Judging from recent exchanges with global resource companies, the international market's interest in Hong Kong's financing platforms continues to heat up.
Many companies from Central Asia, Southeast Asia, North America and South America all hope to use Hong Kong to connect with international capital, reach out to a wider investor base, and flexibly use different financing tools to support business development.
The resources produced by these companies are the key raw materials needed to support artificial intelligence infrastructure construction, energy transformation, and battery and power system development.
As global demand for strategic resources continues to grow, Hong Kong is gradually developing into an important platform for resource companies to raise long-term capital. In the future, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange will continue to act as a bridge to connect enterprises, investors and strategic partners, support the development of the global resources industry, and provide financing support for the next phase of economic growth, technological innovation and energy transformation.