By Alex MacDonald
LONDON--Kazakhstan's largest copper miner, Kazakhmys PLC
(KAZ.LN), Thursday reaffirmed that it's on track to meet its
full-year copper output target after its copper output rose in the
second quarter compared with the first quarter when production was
hampered by severe winter weather.
The U.K.-listed miner said second quarter copper cathode
equivalent production from its own concentrate fell 11% to 70,200
metric tons from 78,900 tons in the second quarter of 2011 as the
company sought to offset lower copper grades by mining more ore. On
a quarterly basis, copper cathode equivalent production rose 8.8%
from the first quarter when the severe winter dented output.
The FTSE-100 listed miner said it remains on track to produce
between 285,000 and 295,000 tons of copper cathode from its own
concentrate this year and is on course to meet its by-product
output targets in 2012.
"Following the severe weather at the start of the year, we are
continuing to raise our output and we remain on track to meet our
production targets set at the start of the year," said Kazakhmys'
Chief Executive Oleg Novachuk. "The power business has continued to
perform well, reflecting operating efficiency and strong domestic
demand," he added, noting that the company is operating in a
challenging global environment.
Second quarter electricity generated from the Ekibastuz GRES-1
coal-fired power station in which it owns a 50% stake, rose 9.1% on
year to 3,097 gigawatt hours while electricity tariff rose nearly
17% during the same period.
As well as owning half of Kazakhstan's largest power station,
Kazakhmys produces copper cathode, silver, zinc and gold.
Kazkahmys' shares Wednesday closed down 0.7% or 6 pence at 663
pence a share, resulting in a market capitalization of GBP3.47
billion.
-Write to Alex MacDonald at alex.macdonald@dowjones.com
alex.macdonald@dowjones.com
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