BEIJING — Zijin Mining Group, China's largest gold producer, reported Saturday a 180-percent increase in its H1 net profits over higher metal prices and improving demand.

Zijin Mining posted a net profit of 1.5 billion yuan ($225 million) for January-June, up from the previous year's 538 million yuan, according to a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The mining group, which also produces other metals such as copper, lead and zinc, said its sales revenue dipped 3.5 percent from a year earlier to 37.5 billion yuan in the first six months.

The company's gold output fell 7.8 percent to 18,856 kilograms in the first six months of 2017, while that of copper and zinc climbed 22.5 percent and 15.4 percent to 91,535 metric tons and 141,906 tons, respectively.

Total assets expanded 6.3 percent to 94.9 billion yuan at the end of June.

The company expects demand for metals to increase in H2 and global copper and zinc prices to keep rising.

The company's shares fell 1.57 percent to 3.76 yuan Friday.