(Minews) - Diversified miner Kazakhmys reported higher copper ore extraction volumes for 2013, helping the company hit the top end of its production target for copper cathodes.
Copper ore extraction came to 39.2 million tonnes for the whole of 2013, up 4% compared with production in 2012, following an increase in output in the Central Region driven by a ramp up in production at the Konyrat
and Nurkazgan mines.
The company reported improvement on its average copper grade at 0.99% from 0.95% in 2012, as activity focused on higher grade sections in order to boost metal output.
The increased ore extraction and recovery grades boosted copperin- ore mined by 8% in 2013, leading the company to hit the top end of the full-year target of between 285,000 and 295,000 tonnes, with total copper cathode production at 294,000 tonnes.
“While 2013 was a challenging year, it was the sixth consecutive year in which we met our annual production targets. Copper production was at the top end of the year, as part of our drive to focus on copper units and mitigate cost pressures,” Oleg Novachuk, ceo of Kazakhmys, said in a statement.
Despite the strong production results, analysts at Investec gave the company a sell rating on concerns about the high-cost nature of its core copper business and the declining grade.
“Investors await a solution to these problems from the company, and we believe [Kazakhmys] will come under increasing pressure if a way forward is not outlined in the near term,” analysts at Investec said in a note.
“We believe any solution lies partly in the hands of the Kazakh government, meaning the timing of any resolution could be protracted,” Investec said.
Pre-production mining started at the Bozymchak mine during the fourth quarter of 2013, leading to stockpiles of 471,000 tonnes of ore, containing about 4,900 tonnes of copper.
The concentrator is expected to enter its commissioning phase during the first quarter of 2014, the company said, and extraction will ramp up throughout the year.
The company also reported a 9% drop in zinc ore production, following falls in zinc bearing ore output and grades, in particular at its Artemyvesky mine.
The lower zinc ore output at the mine also pushed the production of zinc concentrate down 5% in the fourth quarter.
During the fourth quarter, production of zinc-in-concentrate fell by 15% to 134,100 tonnes due as a result of a reduction in zinc processing.
Kazakhmys’s share price stood at 182.70 pence on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday January 30 as of 10:59 GMT, up 2.02% compared with the close of trading the previous day.
