Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 26
By Elena Kosolapova – Trend:
Kazakhstan’s mining company KAZ Minerals PLC produced 140,300 tons of copper cathode equivalent in January-December 2016 compared to 81,100 tons in 2015, the company said in a message released Jan. 26.
The production growth in 2016 came after ramp up of the sulphide concentrator at the Bozshakol mine, which added 44,800 tons of new copper cathode equivalent, and the oxide operations at the Aktogay mine, which contributed 18,100 tons of cathode.
The company produced 131,300 tons of copper concentrate during the period as compared to 89,400 tons in 2015.
Total ore extraction in 2016 grew to 49.02 million tons from 14.54 million tons in 2015 as mining operations at Aktogay and Bozshakol stepped up to support processing activities at both sites.
The company produced 75,400 tons of zinc in concentrate during the reporting period compared to 94,300 tons in 2015.
Silver bar equivalent production hit 3.1 million ounces in 2016 compared to 3.14 million ounces in 2015.
Output of group gold bar equivalent increased from 34,600 ounces in 2015 to 119,700 ounces in 2016.
KAZ Minerals plans to continue copper production growth in 2017 as Bozshakol reaches capacity and the company commences production from sulphide ore at Aktogay.
KAZ Minerals PLC focuses on large scale, low cost, open pit mining in Kazakhstan. It operates three mines and three concentrators in the East Kazakhstan Region, the Bozymchak copper-gold mine in Kyrgyzstan, the Bozshakol open pit copper mine in the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan and the Aktogay open pit copper mine in the East Kazakhstan Region.
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