H1 2019 Operations Update

RNS Number : 9959E

Central Asia Metals PLC

10 July 2019

 

10 July 2019

CENTRAL ASIA METALS PLC

('CAML' or the 'Company')

H1 2019 Operations Update

Central Asia Metals plc (AIM: CAML) today provides a H1 2019 operations update for the Kounrad dump leach, solvent extraction and electro-winning ('SX-EW') copper recovery plant in Kazakhstan ('Kounrad') and the Sasa zinc-lead mine in North Macedonia ('Sasa').

Highlights

-      Production on track to meet full year guidance for copper, zinc and lead

o  H1 2019 Kounrad

§ Copper produced, 6,594 tonnes

o  H1 2019 Sasa

§ Zinc in concentrate produced, 11,517 tonnes

§ Lead in concentrate produced, 14,357 tonnes

-      Cash in the bank on 30 June 2019, $30.2 million

-      Gross debt on 30 June 2019, $126.4 million

CAML production summary

Metal production (tonnes)	Q2 2019	Q1 2019	H1 2019	H1 2018
Copper	3,642	2,952	6,594	6,747
Zinc	5,878	5,639	11,517	11,020
Lead	7,145	7,212	14,357	14,386

Nigel Robinson, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"Today's update demonstrates another period of consistent delivery from our low cost Sasa and Kounrad operations, and we are pleased to be on track to meet our 2019 production guidance for all three base metals. We look forward to reporting our H1 2019 financial results on 17 September 2019." 

Kounrad

Kounrad Q2 2019 copper production of 3,642 tonnes brings output for the first six months of 2019 to 6,594 tonnes. Total Kounrad copper production since operations commenced in 2012 is now 89,068 tonnes.  

Total copper recovered from the Western Dumps in H1 2019 is 4,738 tonnes, equating to approximately 70% of the amount plated.

Copper sales during H1 2019 were 6,461 tonnes.

Sasa

In Q2 2019, mined and processed ore were 202,415 tonnes and 205,051 tonnes respectively, bringing the H1 2019 total to 400,251 tonnes of ore mined and 404,540 tonnes of ore processed. The average head grades for the Q2 2019 period were 3.31% zinc and 3.68% lead, and for H1 2019 were on average 3.28% and 3.76% respectively. The average H1 2019 metallurgical recoveries were 86.7% for zinc and 94.4% for lead.

Sasa produces a zinc concentrate and a separate lead concentrate. In Q2 2019, 11,859 tonnes of concentrate containing 49.6% zinc and 9,850 tonnes of concentrate containing 72.5% lead were produced. Total H1 2019 production was 23,306 tonnes of zinc concentrate at an average grade of 49.4% and 19,720 tonnes of lead concentrate at an average grade of 72.8%.   

Sasa typically receives from smelters approximately 84% of the value of its zinc in concentrate and approximately 95% of the value of its lead in concentrate. Accordingly, Q2 2019 payable production of zinc was 4,929 tonnes and of lead was 6,788 tonnes, bringing total payable production for H1 2019 to 9,652 tonnes of zinc and 13,639 tonnes of lead. Given that deliveries from Sasa to the smelters occur on a regular basis, payable base metal in concentrate sales for the six-month period were similar at 9,708 tonnes of zinc and 13,731 tonnes of lead.

During H1 2019, Sasa sold 169,623 ounces of payable silver to Osisko Gold Royalties, in accordance with its streaming agreement.  

	Units	Q2 2019	Q1 2019	H1 2019	H1 2018
Ore mined	t	202,415	197,836	400,251	390,932
Plant feed	t	205,051	199,489	404,540	393,605
Zinc grade	%	3.31	3.26	3.28	3.34
Zinc recovery	%	86.7	86.8	86.7	83.8
Lead grade	%	3.68	3.84	3.76	3.91
Lead recovery	%	94.7	94.0	94.4	93.5
Zinc concentrate	t (dry)	11,859	11,447	23,306	22,624
-      Grade	%	49.6	49.3	49.4	48.7
-      Contained zinc	t	5,878	5,639	11,517	11,020
Lead concentrate	t (dry)	9,850	9,870	19,720	19,712
-      Grade	%	72.5	73.1	72.8	73.0
-      Contained lead	t	7,145	7,212	14,357	14,386

Cash and gross debt

As of 30 June 2019, CAML had cash in the bank of $30.2 million and gross debt of $126.4 million.

For further information contact:

Central Asia Metals	Tel: [phone]
Nigel Robinson, CEO
Gavin Ferrar, CFO
Louise Wrathall, Investor Relations	[e-mail]
Peel Hunt (Nominated Advisor and Joint Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Ross Allister
James Bavister
David McKeown
BMO Capital Markets (Joint Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Jeff Couch
Thomas Rider
Neil Elliot
Blytheweigh (PR Advisors)	Tel: [phone]
Tim Blythe
Camilla Horsfall
Megan Ray

Note to editors:

Central Asia Metals, an AIM-listed UK company based in London, owns 100% of the Kounrad SX-EW copper project in central Kazakhstan and the Sasa zinc-lead mine in North Macedonia.

For further information, please visit:  www.centralasiametals.com and https://twitter.com/CamlMetals

 

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