Aug. 8, 2012 (China Knowledge) - Western Mining Co Ltd<601168>, China's second-largest lead miner, announced that its net profit attributable to shareholders plunged 79.31% YoY to RMB 134 million in the first half of this year.

In a statement filed with Shanghai Stock Exchange, Western Mining said the huge decrease in net profit is mainly due to lower market prices for minerals.

Basic earnings per share for the period were RMB 0.06, less than RMB 0.27 it realized in the same period of 2011.

From January to June, the company saw its operation revenue increased by RMB 786 million or 7.92% from a year earlier to RMB 10.72 billion.

The company expected its net profit attributable to shareholders to drop over 50% in the first three quarter of this year.