31st Jan 2006 07:02
Kazakhmys PLC31 January 2006 31 January 2006 Kazakhmys PLC Production Summary for the fourth quarter ended 31 December 2005 • For the year ended 31 December 2005, copper cathode production was 396.6 thousand tonnes with 1,685 thousand tonnes of total copper concentrateprocessed;• Metal zinc production for the 12 month period was 50.9 thousand tonnes with 231.5 thousand tonnes of zinc concentrate processed. Kazakhmys Group Production by Product Q1 2005 Q2 2005 Q3 2005 Q4 2005 FY 2005 FY 2004 ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ Ore extraction '000 t 9,592 9,866 9,731 10,257 39,446 35,376Average coppergrade % 1.00 1.05 1.04 1.03 1.03 1.30Average zincgrade (1) % 3.28 2.75 3.23 3.84 3.28 2.77 CopperConcentrate '000 t 385 438 417 444 1,684 1,607Ownconcentrate '000 t 330 355 348 383 1,416 1,593Purchasedconcentrate '000 t 55 83 69 61 268 14Copper inConcentrate % 24.82 23.90 23.01 22.78 23.60 25.2Ownconcentrate % 25.42 24.93 23.92 23.44 24.40 25.2Purchasedconcentrate % 20.80 19.74 18.44 18.64 19.35 21.4 ZincConcentrate '000 t 58.8 49.8 45.4 77.5 231.5 150Zinc inConcentrate % 38.4 39.6 41.7 43.8 42.3 43.8 CopperCathodes (2)(3) '000 t 95.4 104.3 94.4 102.5 396.6 428from own &purchasedconcentrate '000 t 91.0 102.0 92.6 100.9 386.5 408from tollingconcentrate '000 t 4.4 (4) 2.3 1.8 1.6 10.1 20Copper Rod '000 t 1.3 4.6 1.2 1.6 8.7 49Metal Zinc '000 t 17.1 11.6 9.6 12.6 50.9 18Silver '000 oz 4,961 5,632 4,811 5,112 20,516 17,718Gold '000 oz 13.1 33.7 26.5 27.2 100.5 86---------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ (1) Complex ores only(2) Includes copper used to produce copper rod(3) Correction to previously stated volumes: in the Production Summary released on19 December 2005, cumulative 9 months copper cathode production was stated at301.1 thousand tonnes rather than the correct figure of 294.1 thousand tonnes.(4) Correction: to reflect the fact that 2.3 thousand tonnes of copper cathodeswere produced from tolling concentrate rather than from own concentrate. Thisadjustment did not affect the total copper cathode production for the period. In the fourth quarter of 2005, Kazakhmys PLC produced 102.5 thousand tonnes ofcopper cathodes (of which 1.6 thousand tonnes were used to produce copper rods),with total 2005 copper cathode production of 396.6 thousand tonnes. Coppercathode production was 8.6% higher in the fourth quarter compared to the thirdquarter, primarily due to higher ore extraction volumes and following thecompletion of the scheduled smelter maintenance works at the Zhezkazgan complex. Copper concentrate production in the fourth quarter of 2005 was 6.5% higher thanin the third quarter of 2005 despite major scheduled repair works at theKaragaily concentrator. Overall in 2005, the Group produced 1,416 thousandtonnes of copper concentrate and a further 268 thousand tonnes of copperconcentrate were purchased from third parties. Zinc metal production for the fourth quarter of 2005 was 12.6 thousand tonnes.The production was higher than in the third quarter but still below fullproduction capacity due to the continued ramp-up period for the smelterresulting in lower volumes of smelter output and higher levels of zincconcentrate inventory. Zinc concentrate production in the fourth quarter was significantly higher (up71% compared to the third quarter). Zinc concentrate production increased due tothe commencement of production at the Artemyevskoe mine. In 2005 the Group produced 231.5 thousand tonnes of zinc concentrate. Asignificant part of this has been utilised to produce 50.9 thousand tonnes ofmetal zinc. The Group also produced 5.1 million ounces of silver and 27.2 thousand ounces ofgold in the fourth quarter of 2005. Zhezkazgan ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ Q1 2005 Q2 2005 Q3 2005 Q4 2005 FY 2005 FY 2004 ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ Ore extraction '000 t 6,759 6,993 6,910 7,384 28,046 24,647 Average coppergrade % 0.87 0.90 0.86 0.84 0.87 1.06 Copper '000 t 145.4 154.4 143.1 155.3 598.2 668Concentrate Copper '000 t 57.9 60.0 52.7 64.7 235.3 236Cathodes (1) Copper Rod '000 t 1.3 4.6 1.2 1.6 8.7 49-------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ (1) includes copper used to produce copper rod Copper cathode production was higher in the fourth quarter of 2005, due to thecompletion of the scheduled smelter maintenance works at the Zhezkazgan complex.Surplus concentrate that could not be smelted during the third quarter due tothe maintenance works was processed in the fourth quarter of 2005. Copper rod production remained low in the fourth quarter of 2005, as morerefined copper was allocated to meet the Group's cathode copper exportcontracts. Balkhash Q1 2005 Q2 2005 Q3 2005 Q4 2005 FY 2005 FY 2004 ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ Ore extraction '000 t 1,602 1,443 1,437 1,391 5,873 5,675 Average coppergrade % 0.61 0.75 0.75 0.70 0.70 0.67 CopperConcentrate (1) '000 t 41.6 50.2 48.0 41.1 180.9 175 Copper '000 t 37.5 44.3 41.7 37.8 161.3 172Cathodes (2) of which '000 t 4.4 2.3 1.8 1.6 10.1 20tolling Copper Rod '000 t -- -- -- -- -- ----------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ (1) Does not include concentrate processed by third parties(2) Includes tolling Copper concentrate and copper cathode production at the Balkhash complex in thefourth quarter of 2005 was lower than in the third quarter primarily due tolower copper grades. Eastern Complex ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ Q1 2005 Q2 2005 Q3 2005 Q4 2005 FY 2005 FY 2004 ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ Ore extraction '000 t 1,231 1,430 1,384 1,482 5,527 5,054Average copper % 2.28 2.17 2.25 2.32 2.23 3.20grade Copper Concentrate '000 t 143.3 136.4 144.2 168.4 592.3 750Copper Cathodes '000 t -- -- -- -- -- --Copper Rod '000 t -- -- -- -- -- ---------------- ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ ------ In the fourth quarter of 2005, ore extraction at the Eastern complex increasedby 7% compared to that of the third quarter, due to the resumption of miningoperations at the Irtyshskoe mine and higher ramp-up production at theArtemyevskoe mine. Copper concentrate production increased by 16.8% in the fourth quarter of 2005compared to the third quarter of 2005 primarily due to the higher quantity ofmined ores. The Company has scheduled a conference call to discuss its Quarter 4 productionreport at 10:00am GMT on Tuesday, 31 January 2006. The call will be hosted by MrOleg Novachuk, Kazakhmys PLC Finance Director. Individuals who would like to participate, should call 01296 480 100 and use thepin code C 274807. For further information please contact: Jinsoo Yang, Head of IR Tel: +44 20 8636 7900Sergei Stephantsov, Deputy Head of IR +44 20 8636 7900Kazakhmys PLC Morgan Bone Tel: +44 20 7251 3801Robin WalkerFinsbury - ends - Notes to EditorThe Group's principal business is the mining, processing, smelting, refining andsale of copper and copper products, including copper cathode and copper rod, andis carried on by the Company's main subsidiary LLC Kazakhmys Corporation("Kazakhmys"). Based on 2004 production, the Group is the 10th largest producerof copper cathode and mined copper in the world. The Group's operations arevertically integrated. Kazakhmys operates 16 open pit and underground mines andtwo smelting and refining complexes in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Kazakhmysalso owns significant rail infrastructure in Kazakhstan and MKM, a copperproducts fabrication company in Germany. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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