Kounrad celebrates 10-year production anniversary

RNS Number : 9391J

Central Asia Metals PLC

03 May 2022

 

3 May 2022

CENTRAL ASIA METALS PLC

('CAML' or the 'Company')

Kounrad celebrates 10-year production anniversary

Central Asia Metals (AIM: CAML) is pleased to announce that, on 30 April 2022, the Kounrad dump leach, solvent extraction and electro-winning ('SX-EW') copper recovery plant in Kazakhstan ('Kounrad') reached its 10-year production milestone. CAML expects to produce copper at Kounrad until 2034.

Producing copper from waste since 2012

CAML's Kounrad copper resources are waste dumps that were formed during prior mining activities of the Kounrad deposit, which commenced in the 1930s. Since CAML's leaching operations began 10 years ago in April 2012, Kounrad has achieved the following milestones:

· 127,165 tonnes of copper cathode have been produced (to 31 March 2022) at an average C1 cash cost of production that is very low by industry standards at $0.55 per pound (2012 - 2021)

· Gross revenue of $820.7 million has been generated from copper sales (2012 - 2021)

· Tax to the Government of Kazakhstan totalling $192.9 million has been paid (2012 - 2021)

· Operations have supported a Kazakh workforce comprising 323 employees and 92 contractors (2021)

· The establishment of the Kounrad Foundation charity in 2018

· Development funding of over $2.3 million has been invested to support the local communities of Kounrad and Balkhash (2012 - 2021)

Nigel Robinson, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"We are delighted to have reached another significant milestone at Kounrad. In the 10 years since we began production at our Kazakhstan site, our first producing operation, we have produced 127,165 tonnes of copper cathode.

"It is important to highlight that this volume of copper, a metal critical to the green energy transition and urbanisation, has been recovered from what is essentially a waste material at costs that have consistently been amongst the lowest in the world.

"We look forward to the next 10 years at Kounrad, which will see our operation continue to offer local employment and facilitate socio-economic progress in the surrounding communities. In the near future, we hope to enhance our operations by constructing a solar power plant at Kounrad and, having completed a scoping study and received Board approval for building this project last year, we are now in the process of detailed engineering design."

For further information contact:

Central Asia Metals	Tel: [phone]
Nigel Robinson, CEO
Gavin Ferrar, CFO
Louise Wrathall, Director of Corporate Relations	[e-mail]
Peel Hunt (Nominated Advisor and Joint Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Ross Allister
David McKeown
BMO Capital Markets (Joint Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Thomas Rider
Pascal Lussier Duquette
BlytheRay (PR Advisors)	Tel: [phone]
Tim Blythe
Megan Ray
Rachael Brooks

Note to editors:

Central Asia Metals, an AIM-listed UK company based in London, owns 100% of the Kounrad SX-EW copper project in central Kazakhstan and 100% of the Sasa zinc-lead mine in North Macedonia.

For further information, please visit www.centralasiametals.com and follow CAML on Twitter at @CamlMetals and on LinkedIn at Central Asia Metals Plc

 

END

 

 

NRAPPUUWCUPPGAB