TIDMKAZ

RNS Number : 3005S

KAZ Minerals PLC

02 October 2017

 
 
     KAZ MINERALS PLC 
     6TH FLOOR 
     CARDINAL PLACE 
     100 VICTORIA STREET 
     LONDON SW1E 5JL 
     Tel: +44 (0) 20 
     7901 7800 
  ======================

2 October 2017

AKTOGAY SULPHIDE DECLARED COMMERCIAL

KAZ Minerals PLC ("KAZ Minerals" or "the Group") announces that following continued commissioning progress the Aktogay sulphide plant has been declared commercial. Revenues, operating costs and interest expenses associated with the Aktogay sulphide plant will be recorded in the Group's income statement from October 2017.

Higher than anticipated copper grades at the top of the ore body and the successful ramp up of the sulphide concentrator are expected to result in Aktogay meeting or exceeding the upper end of its 2017 copper production guidance range of 70-85 kt.

The Group's third quarter production results will be set out in the Quarterly Production Report and Interim Management Statement on 26 October 2017.

Oleg Novachuk, Chief Executive, said: "I am pleased to announce that we have achieved commercial production at the Aktogay sulphide plant, the second of our two major growth projects. During the construction and ramp up of the projects we have consistently delivered against our operational and financial targets and we now look forward to reaching design capacity at Bozshakol this year and Aktogay in 2018."

For further information, please contact:

 
 KAZ Minerals 
  PLC 
====================  ==========================  ================= 
                       Investor Relations,         Tel: +44 20 7901 
 Chris Bucknall         London                      7882 
                       Financial Analyst,          Tel: +44 20 7901 
 Anna Mallere           London                      7814 
                       Corporate Communications,   Tel: +7 727 244 
 Maksut Zhapabayev      Almaty                      03 53 
====================  ==========================  ================= 
 Instinctif Partners 
====================  ==========================  ================= 
                                                   Tel: +44 20 7457 
 David Simonson                                     2020 
====================  ==========================  =================

REGISTERED OFFICE

6th Floor, Cardinal Place, 100 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5JL, United Kingdom.

NOTES TO EDITORS

KAZ Minerals PLC ("KAZ Minerals" or "the Group") is a high growth copper company focused on large scale, low cost, open pit mining in Kazakhstan. It operates the Bozshakol and Aktogay open pit copper mines in the Pavlodar and East regions of Kazakhstan, three underground mines and associated concentrators in the East Region of Kazakhstan and the Bozymchak copper-gold mine in Kyrgyzstan. In 2016, total copper cathode equivalent output was 140 kt with by-products of 75 kt of zinc in concentrate, 120 koz of gold bar equivalent and 3,103 koz of silver bar equivalent.

The Group's new operations at Bozshakol and Aktogay are delivering one of the highest growth rates in the industry and transforming KAZ Minerals into a company dominated by world class, open pit copper mines.

Bozshakol is a first quartile asset on the global cost curve with an annual ore processing capacity of 30 million tonnes and a mine life of 40 years at a copper grade of 0.36%. The mine and processing facilities will produce an average of 100 kt of copper and 120 koz of gold in concentrate per year over the first 10 years of operations.

Aktogay is a large scale, open pit mine similar to Bozshakol, with a mine life of more than 50 years and average copper grades of 0.37% (oxide) and 0.33% (sulphide). Aktogay commenced production of copper cathode from oxide ore in December 2015 and copper in concentrate production from sulphide ore commenced in February 2017. The sulphide concentrator has an annual ore processing capacity of 25 million tonnes. Aktogay is competitively positioned on the global cost curve and will produce an average of 90 kt of copper from sulphide ore and 20 kt of copper cathode from oxide ore per year over the first 10 years of operations.

KAZ Minerals is listed on the London Stock Exchange, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and employs around 13,000 people, principally in Kazakhstan.

This announcement contains inside information.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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