Asian gold mining shares moved lower at the start of the week after bullion suffered a sharp pullback at the end of last week. The selloff in physical gold followed comments from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh that led markets to substantially raise expectations for a September interest-rate increase.
In Hong Kong trading, Lingbao Gold dropped 5.7% to HK$22.34, Zijin Gold International declined 5.4% to HK$152.50 and Zhaojin Mining eased 2.5% to HK$23.34. One notable exception was Shandong Gold, which rose 8.1% to HK$27.58.
Australian-listed miners also saw declines, with Westgold Resources down 5.1%, Regis Resources off 4.3% and Northern Star Resources slipping 5.5%.
The broader move was driven by bullion's fall of more than 3% on Friday. Spot gold traded down to about $4,567 an ounce on Friday, marking its lowest level since August 20. The drop coincided with a stronger U.S. dollar and rising Treasury yields.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh said inflation had not shown sufficient underlying improvement and signaled that the central bank still had work to do to bring price pressures back toward its 2% goal. Those remarks prompted market participants to lift the odds of a September rate increase to roughly 58%, from about 36% previously, a shift that diminished demand for gold, an asset that does not yield interest income.
The retreat in bullion came after a period of gains. Earlier in the month, gold had traded above $4,600 an ounce and reached a three-month high of $4,696.18 on August 25. That advance had been supported initially by a weaker dollar, concerns over U.S. fiscal conditions and the Treasury's move to expand purchases of longer-dated government bonds.
For gold producers, the reversal in metal prices poses a risk to recently improving earnings momentum. Miners with higher production costs are particularly exposed because falling realized prices reduce revenue while many operating costs remain relatively fixed or only adjust slowly.
Shandong Gold stood apart from the regional downturn after releasing a strong first-half report. The company reported attributable net profit of RMB 3.54 billion, a year-over-year increase of 26.2%, and cited lower operating costs that supported margins despite weaker revenue.
Weakness was broadly visible across the region. Sumitomo Metal Mining fell 3.5%, Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining lost 4.3%, Zijin Mining dropped 4% and Newmont retreated 3.5%.
Investors will be watching whether bullion stabilizes and how sustained higher interest-rate expectations influence mining sector profitability, particularly for operators with thinner cost cushions.