Singapore 08/01/2016 - AIM-listed London-based copper producer Central Asia Metals (CAML) saw a record copper production of 12,071 tonnes in 2015, up 8.4 percent from the previous year, with output expected to rise further to 13,000-14,000 tonnes this year.
The higher production guidance for 2016 is due to the ahead of schedule completion of expansion of its solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW) plant in Kounrad in Kazakhstan in May 2015, which has lifted production capacity to 15,000 tonnes per month from 10,000 tonnes per month, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.
CAML expects to maintain its C1 cash costs of $0.65-$0.70 per pound in 2016.
The company will also commence expansion plans in the western dumps of Kounrad starting March 2016. Extraction of copper from the western dump area will be facilitated by the installation of two 12-kilometre pipelines - to be commissioned during the second quarter of 2017 - to allow for the pregnant leach solution (PLS) and raffinate solution flows to be cross transferred to the expanded SX-EW plant.
“Our cost discipline combined with the weakening of the Kazakh Tenge has significantly reduced the cost base of the operation. We are confident that we can continue to generate positive cash flows from the operations at Kounrad despite market headwinds, which have seen copper prices drop to a six year low in 2015,” Nick Clarke, CAML’s chief executive officer said in the statement.
The company sold 12,040 tonnes of copper cathode in 2015, up 7.9 percent year-on-year, mainly through off-take arrangements with Traxys which is CAML’s offtake partner through 31 December 2018.
CAML is also developing the Chañaral Bay copper project in the Atacama region of Chile and owns the Handgait molybdenum exploration project in northern Mongolia.