1.8 billion leveraging 500 billion! China's most mysterious "mining king" emerges

He never appears in the scene, yet legends of him never fade from the industry.
He never shows his face, you may have never heard his name, and it's impossible to find a clear photo of him online.
He doesn't accept interviews, holds no positions at any listed companies, and has even been absent from two IPO bell-ringing ceremonies of his own company.
He is Yu Yong, the helm of Hongshang Group, an "invisible magnate" with a net worth close to 100 billion, yet whose public photos are nearly impossible to find.
From an ordinary worker in Wafangdian, Dalian, to today's "invisible mining king" controlling one-third of global cobalt resources and nearly one-tenth of copper resources, Yu Yong used 20 years to stage an extreme capital hunt.
How did he transform from a paper mill worker to a mining tycoon?
Yu Yong's story begins with a seemingly impossible bidding victory in 2004.
At that time, state-owned Luoyang Molybdenum, located in Henan, was in deep trouble, with molybdenum prices plummeting, half of 6,000 workers laid off, and unable to even pay 400 yuan wages. To save itself, the local government decided on restructuring. News spread, and tycoons like Guo Guangchang of Fosun Group and Chen Jinghe of Zijin Mining moved quickly, all wanting to take over this "Asia's number one molybdenum mine."
Yet the ultimate winner was an unknown Shanghai small company—Hongshang Group, and its obscure boss behind it, Yu Yong.
How did he win? Not through having more money, but through "strategy." While everyone was crazy about controlling stakes, Yu Yong made an irrefutable offer to the government: "I don't want control." In the end, he acquired 49% equity of Luoyang Molybdenum for 178 million yuan.
This was later called "godly bargain hunting." In the second year of restructuring, Luoyang Molybdenum turned profitable with profits surging to 280 million; by 2007 IPO, Hong Kong tycoons like Li Ka-shing and Henry Cheng rushed to subscribe. Less than 200 million in investment instantly became a capital empire of hundreds of billions.
Yet Yu Yong remained invisible. He had his younger brother Yu Bo attend the IPO ceremony, while he lay dormant like a patient leopard in the shadows for exactly ten years, until 2014 when he increased his stakes through the secondary market, becoming the true controlling shareholder in one stroke.
Stunning gamble: When "corpses" littered everywhere, he went on a "shopping spree"
If it were merely about "bargain hunting," Yu Yong might simply be a lucky guy. What truly elevated him to legendary status was the stunning gamble from 2012 to 2018.
Those years saw global commodities enter a prolonged bear market, copper prices plummeting from 8,700 dollars to over 4,000 dollars, global mining giants wailing in despair, with Anglo American and Glencore "cutting losses to survive," liquidating assets.
When others feared, Yu Yong became greedy.
He led the newly cash-rich Luoyang Molybdenum into a global "shopping spree":
· 2013: Spending 820 million dollars to acquire Australia's NPM copper-gold mine;
· 2016: Two consecutive "snake swallowing elephant" moves: first acquiring Brazil's niobium-phosphate mine for 1.5 billion dollars, then immediately acquiring DRC's TFM copper-cobalt mine for 2.65 billion dollars—one of the world's largest reserves and highest-grade copper-cobalt mines.
Everyone thought he was crazy, spending billions to buy "scrap metal." But Yu Yong saw the future: copper is the brain of electric vehicles (motor coils), cobalt is the heart of electric vehicles (battery positive electrode). He was betting on the arrival of the new energy era.
The result: he won the bet. As new energy vehicles exploded, copper and cobalt prices skyrocketed. Luoyang Molybdenum became the world's largest cobalt producer, top-ten copper producer globally, with market value approaching 500 billion.
More than just a mine owner: Yu Bo's "benefactor" and hundred-billion returns
Yu Yong's foresight extends beyond mining. He understood that selling ore alone earns cyclical money; to be stable, you must embed yourself in the industrial chain.
His most classic move was investing in CATL. As early as 2016, when CATL hadn't truly taken off and hadn't even listed, Yu Yong entered through Hongshang system at extremely low prices, becoming an early investor of曾毓群 (Zeng Yuqun). Later CATL listed, its market value surged at times, and Yu Yong's investment return exceeded 4 billion! But this investment brought not just paper wealth, but strategic alliance.
In 2022, CATL became the second-largest shareholder of Luoyang Molybdenum. Yu Yong and曾毓群 joined hands, one providing stable raw materials, one locking in massive downstream markets, even developing lithium mines in Bolivia together. This "mine + battery" vertical closed loop gave them stronger pricing power and risk resistance in the global new energy industrial chain.
The B-side of a hidden merchant: controversies and "cost decimation"
Yu Yong's low profile has reasons. His business empire once touched some gray areas.
Early on, his business partners involved the former "Delong Group"; in 2019, his company was exposed in public view after being implicated in a bribery case judgment, having allegedly paid 300,000 yuan to the secretary of a former Vice Minister of Finance.
Beyond capital operations, Yu Yong has also been "empowering others" recently. In 2025, he introduced professional managers from companies like Zijin Mining, Huawei, and ENN Energy, even recruiting management elites skilled in "cost decimation" from manufacturing, beginning to extract efficiency through management.
Just in December 2025 that passed, while everyone was still digesting copper price volatility, Yu Yong struck again—lavishly spending 7.1 billion yuan, acquiring four operating gold mines in Brazil at once, while previously spending 3 billion acquiring gold mines in Ecuador. With gold prices surging currently, he's beginning another round of layout.
When asked about the secret to success, he perhaps would only smile faintly. After all, how could a man unwilling to attend his own IPO bell-ringing ceremony care about the noise of this world?
He simply quietly held onto the lifeline of global new energy.