Central Asia Metals reports mixed first-quarter performance

Miner and explorer Central Asia Metals updated the market on its first quarter operations on Wednesday, at its copper and zinc-lead production facilities in Kazakhstan and North Macedonia.

The AIM-traded company said there were no lost time injuries at the Kounrad dump leach, solvent extraction, and electro-winning (SX-EW) copper recovery plant in Kazakhstan or the Sasa zinc-lead mine in North Macedonia.

It said the Kounrad plant produced 3,336 tonnes of copper in the first quarter - a slight increase from the 3,024 tonnes produced in the same period in 2022.

Meanwhile, the Sasa mine in North Macedonia produced 4,917 tonnes of zinc in concentrate and 6,618 tonnes of lead in concentrate in the first quarter of 2023, compared to 5,240 tonnes of zinc and 6,736 tonnes of lead in the same period a year ago.

Central Asia Metals confirmed its full-year 2023 guidance as well, saying it expected to produce between 13,000 and 14,000 tonnes of copper, alongside 19,000 to 21,000 tonnes of zinc in concentrate and 27,000 to 29,000 tonnes of lead in concentrate.

“We have had a solid start to 2023 with no lost-time injuries at either site and a very good first quarter of production at Kounrad,” said chief executive officer Nigel Robinson.

“We are on target to meet 2023 guidance at both sites.

“We also remain on track with our development projects at Sasa to start the transition to paste fill mining in the second half, and at Kounrad with the construction of our 4.77MW solar plant.”

At 1142 BST, shares in Central Asia Metals were down 0.22% at 229.5p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.