KAZ Minerals PLC announces that it has signed an agreement with Baiyin Nonferrous Group Co., Ltd. (“Baiyin”) to jointly perform a scoping study on the construction of a copper smelter in Kazakhstan. The smelter would process copper concentrate from the Bozshakol and Aktogay mines.
Following the scoping study any decision to proceed with the construction of a smelter will be subject to further technical and economic evaluation and the availability of suitable financing.
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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 is a leading copper producer in Kazakhstan with five operating mines and four concentrators. In 2014, total copper cathode output from continuing operations was 84 kt. The Group’s continuing operations also produced 121 kt of zinc in concentrate, 3,435 koz of silver and 35 koz of gold in 2014.
The Group has two major copper projects under construction, Bozshakol and Aktogay, and a third, Koksay, at scoping stage. These projects are expected to deliver one of the highest growth rates in the industry and transform KAZ Minerals into a company dominated by world class open pit copper mines.
KAZ Minerals PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange, the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and employs around 10,000 people, principally in Kazakhstan.
Baiyin was founded in 1954 and is a resources extraction and processing enterprise of significant scale based in the Gansu Province, West China, with two key major shareholders being the CITIC Group and the Gansu Provincial Government. Baiyin has developed and owns certain proprietary smelting technologies, and operates facilities involved in the processing of copper, lead, zinc, nickel, silver, platinum and gold.
Baiyin is also a registered participant on the London Metal Exchange in the trading of zinc and lead. Baiyin’s international footprints mainly include gold mining operations and projects in South Africa and a copper tailings retreatment project in Peru, currently under construction.