Q4 2020 Production report

KAZ MINERALS GROUP PRODUCTION REPORT FOR TWELVE MONTHS AND THE FOURTH QUARTER ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2020

 

• Full year copper production¹ of 305.7 kt (FY 2019: 311.4 kt), 2% above guidance range with strong performance at all divisions
  • Copper sales of 300.4 kt (FY 2019: 316.9 kt). Sales were below production volumes due to year end shipment delays at Kazakhstan-China border
  • Q4 copper production¹ of 75.7 kt (Q3 2020: 76.2 kt) with scheduled maintenance completed efficiently
  • Full year gold production² of 196.3 koz (FY 2019: 201.5 koz) supported gold sales of 204.6 koz (FY 2019: 225.0 koz). December production impacted by low grade and recovery at Bozshakol and suspension of Bozymchak, however sales exceeded production following release of inventory

• Aktogay
  • Full year copper production¹ of 131.2 kt (FY 2019: 145.7 kt) exceeded guidance of 120-130 kt
  • Q4 copper production¹ in line with previous quarter at 31.9 kt (Q3 2020: 31.7 kt) as higher sulphide ore throughput was offset by seasonally lower oxide output

• Bozshakol
  • Full year copper production² increased by 11% to 122.0 kt (FY 2019: 110.2 kt), above guidance of 110-120 kt supported by higher average grades and ore throughput
  • Copper production² in Q4 of 31.3 kt (Q3 2020: 30.3 kt) as higher grades more than offset lower throughput due to scheduled maintenance
  • Gold production² in 2020 of 151.7 koz (FY 2019: 144.8 koz) above guidance of 140-150 koz due to increased ore processing
  • Q4 gold production² decreased to 31.4 koz (Q3 2020: 37.0 koz) impacted by scheduled maintenance, lower than expected grades and associated recovery rates

• East Region and Bozymchak
  • Full year copper production² of 52.5 kt (FY 2019: 55.5 kt) above guidance of c.50 kt
  • Q4 copper production² decreased by 12% to 12.5 kt (Q3 2020: 14.2 kt) mainly due to the temporary suspension of operations at Bozymchak in the quarter
  • Full year by-product output in line with guidance with gold production² of 44.0 koz (FY 2019: 53.7 koz), silver production² of 1,946 koz (FY 2019: 2,024 koz) and zinc in concentrate output of 49.7 kt (FY 2019: 38.3 kt)
  • Bozymchak mine restarted operations on 26 December after a temporary suspension from 7 October following political instability in Kyrgyzstan

• Covid-19
  • Ensuring the safety, health and wellbeing of employees and contractors is the Group’s first priority
  • Comprehensive measures, including testing and isolation, remain in place to protect staff and mitigate the risk of disruption to operations
  • These measures ensured that there was no major impact to the Group’s operations in Q4 resulting from Covid-19, other than minor delays to shipments to and from China

Group production summary3		12m 2020	12m 2019		Q4 2020	Q3 2020	Q4 2019
Copper production1	kt	305.7	311.4		75.7	76.2	80.9
Aktogay	kt	131.2	145.7		31.9	31.7	34.3
Bozshakol	kt	122.0	110.2		31.3	30.3	31.0
East Region & Bozymchak	kt	52.5	55.5		12.5	14.2	15.6
Gold production2	koz	196.3	201.5		35.9	50.7	55.3
Silver production2	koz	3,374	3,382		732	901	886
Zinc in concentrate	kt	49.7	38.3		10.2	15.7	9.4

1. Payable metal in concentrate and copper cathode from Aktogay oxide ore.
2. Payable metal in concentrate.
3. See appendix for metal production by asset.

 

Andrew Southam, Chief Executive Officer, said: “In the face of challenges posed by Covid-19 we took steps to protect our staff and operations and I am proud of the Group’s performance in such difficult circumstances. KAZ Minerals delivered strong production in the fourth quarter and achieved record sulphide ore processing volumes of 59.2 million tonnes in 2020, supporting copper production of 306 kt which was above the 2020 guidance range.”

For further information please contact:

KAZ Minerals PLC

Chris Bucknall	Investor Relations, London	Tel: +44 20 7901 7882
Anna Mallere	Investor Relations, London	Tel: +44 20 7901 7814
Maksut Zhapabayev	Corporate Communications, Almaty	Tel: +7 727 244 03 53

 

Brunswick Group
Carole Cable, Charlie Pretzlik		Tel: +44 20 7404 5959

REGISTERED OFFICE

6th Floor, Cardinal Place, 100 Victoria Street, London SW1E 5JL, United Kingdom.

PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL ANNOUNCEMENT