(Alliance News) - Kaz Minerals PLC on Thursday said its copper output for 2020 exceeded its guidance, while gold output met its guidance range, however the figures still reflected a decline from the prior year.
For the three months ended December 31, copper production dropped 6.4% to 75,700 tonnes, from 80,900 tonnes the year before. Meanwhile, annual output declined 1.8% year-on-year to 305,700 tonnes from 311,400 tonnes, but surpassed its guidance of between 280,000 tonnes and 300,000 tonnes.
Gold production for the final quarter of 2020 was 35,900 ounces, a 35% drop from 55,300 ounces in 2019. For the year as a whole, gold output was 196,300 ounces, a 2.6% drop from 201,500 ounces the year before. However, the figure was in line with Kaz's guidance range of 180,000 ounces to 200,000 ounces.
Gold production in December was affected by low grades and recovery at Bozshakol and the suspension of Bozymchak.
Silver output for the quarter was 732,000 ounces, a 17% decline from 886,000 ounces the same period the prior year. For 2020, production reached 3.37 million ounces, down 0.3% from 3.38 million ounces in 2019.
Bozshakol is in the north of Kazakhstan while Aktogay is in the east of the country. It also has operations in the East Region of Kazakhstan and Bozymchak in Kyrgyzstan.
"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 306,000 tonnes which was above the 2020 guidance range," said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Southam.
Shares in Kaz Minerals were down 1.4% at 709.96 pence on Thursday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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