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29 September 2016
The clay plant has an annual processing capacity of five million tonnes and is expected to commence production of saleable copper concentrate in 2016. Completion of the plant brings the total ore processing capacity at Bozshakol to 30 million tonnes per annum, including the main 25 million tonne sulphide concentrator which began operations at the start of the year.
The ramp up of the main sulphide concentrator is progressing in-line with expectations and the 2016 production guidance for Bozshakol remains unchanged.
Oleg Novachuk, Chief Executive, said: “I am very pleased to report that the Bozshakol clay plant has begun commissioning. Construction activities at Bozshakol are largely complete and we are now focused on ramping up copper output from this 100 kt per annum, long-life, low-cost, open pit mine.”
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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 operates four mines and three concentrators in the East Region of Kazakhstan, the Bozymchak copper-gold mine in Kyrgyzstan, the Bozshakol open pit copper mine in the Pavlodar region of Kazakhstan and the SX/EW plant at Aktogay in the East Region of Kazakhstan. In 2015, total copper cathode output from the East Region and Bozymchak was 81 kt with by-products of 94 kt of zinc in concentrate, 3,135 koz of silver and 35 koz of gold bar.
The Group’s major growth projects at Bozshakol and Aktogay 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.
Bozshakol is a first quartile asset on the global cost curve and will have an annual ore processing capacity of 30 million tonnes when fully ramped up, with a mine life of 40 years at a copper grade of 0.36%. The mine and processing facilities will produce 100 kt of copper cathode equivalent and 120 koz of gold in concentrate per year over the first 10 years of operations.
The Aktogay project is a large scale open pit development 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 the production of copper in concentrate from sulphide ore is expected to begin in the first half of 2017. The sulphide concentrator will have an annual ore processing capacity of 25 million tonnes when fully ramped up. Aktogay is competitively positioned on the global cost curve and will produce an average of 90 kt of copper cathode equivalent from sulphide ore and 15 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 12,000 people, principally in Kazakhstan.