REG - Central Asia Metals - Q1 2025 Operations Update

Central Asia MetalsAnnouncement

08/04/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 0103E  Central Asia Metals PLC  08 April 2025

8 April 2025

Central Asia Metals plc

(the 'Group', the 'Company' or 'CAML')

Q1 2025 Operations Update

Central Asia Metals plc (AIM: CAML) provides its Q1 2025 operations update for
the Kounrad dump-leach, solvent extraction and electro-winning (SX-EW) copper
recovery plant in Kazakhstan and the Sasa zinc-lead mine in North Macedonia.

Operational summary

-      Zero lost time injuries (LTIs) at Kounrad and Sasa

-      Kounrad copper production of 2,852 tonnes

-      Sasa zinc-in-concentrate production of 4,603 tonnes

-      Sasa lead-in-concentrate production of 6,608 tonnes

-      Sasa Capital Projects:

o  Dry Stack Tailings (DST) Plant operational by period end

o  transition to paste-fill mining advances

o  Central Decline in operation

-      Encouraging results from exploration drilling at 28.4%-owned
Aberdeen Minerals' Arthrath base-metals project in Scotland

Outlook

-      Production guidance for FY2025 reiterated:

o  copper of 13,000 to 14,000 tonnes

o  zinc-in-concentrate of 19,000 to 21,000 tonnes

o  lead-in-concentrate of 27,000 to 29,000 tonnes

-      DST Plant at Sasa ramping up to full capacity

-      Further round of exploration drilling scheduled to commence in Q2
2025 at Arthrath

-      Completing a material transaction remains a key focus

CAML production summary

 Metal production (tonnes)  Q1 2025  Q1 2024
 Copper                     2,852    3,120
 Zinc                       4,603    4,741
 Lead                       6,608    6,529

Gavin Ferrar, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"I am pleased to report another quarter of safe, reliable production from our
operations. Despite a somewhat harsher winter than we experienced last year,
Kounrad maintained 100% operational availability; and Sasa continued with its
transition to new mining methods and the modernisation of its tailings
disposal systems.

"Notably, at the end of the quarter, Sasa produced the first filter cake from
its DST Plant. This project is the third and final element of our Capital
Projects programme, and we look forward to bedding down the projects this year
and returning Sasa's production towards levels achieved prior to
implementation of the programme. I am particularly encouraged by the tonnages
mined and processed during the quarter.

"Our business development activities continued apace during the period, with a
number of opportunities evaluated, several of which remain active.

"Meanwhile, CAML X, our exploration subsidiary in Kazakhstan, secured two
additional licences during the period; and our associate in Scotland, Aberdeen
Minerals, received encouraging results from its 2024 drilling campaign. We
anticipate further positive news from these projects during the rest of the
year."

Health and Safety

Neither Kounrad nor Sasa had an LTI during Q1 2025.

Kounrad

Production and sales update

Kounrad's Q1 2025 copper production was 2,852 tonnes and sales during the
quarter were 2,746 tonnes.

Production for the quarter was 268 tonnes lower than in Q1 2024, the result of
planned scheduling of the remaining, lower-grade, dumps most amenable to
winter leaching. Despite winter temperatures being slightly lower than in the
corresponding period in 2024, the dump irrigation system and the SX-EW
facility operated at 100% availability without any stoppages.

Sasa

Production and sales update

Sasa produces a zinc concentrate and a separate lead concentrate, and
typically receives from smelters approximately 84% of the value of its
zinc-in-concentrate and around 95% of the value of its lead-in-concentrate.
Accordingly, Q1 2025 payable production was 3,869 tonnes of zinc and 6,278
tonnes of lead.

Payable base-metal-in-concentrate sales for Q1 2025 were 3,723 tonnes of zinc
and 6,286 tonnes of lead, broadly in line with production.

During Q1 2025, Sasa sold 105,453 ounces of payable silver to Osisko Gold
Royalties, in accordance with its streaming agreement.

                             Units    Q1 2025  Q1 2024
 Ore mined                   t        196,502  184,127
 Plant feed                  t        198,002  184,079
 Zinc grade                  %        2.68     3.00
 Zinc recovery               %        86.7     85.9
 Lead grade                  %        3.52     3.75
 Lead recovery               %        94.9     94.7
 Zinc concentrate            t (dry)  9,175    9,494
 -      Grade                %        50.2     49.9
 -      Contained zinc       t        4,603    4,741
 Lead concentrate            t (dry)  9,351    9,177
 -      Grade                %        70.7     71.1
 -      Contained lead       t        6,608    6,529

Capital Projects - the transition to paste-fill mining and dry-stack tailings

During Q1 2025, Sasa continued to place paste-fill in the cut-and-fill
production stopes on the 800-metre and 750-metre levels. Long-hole stoping
using fill also continued, with additional stopes to follow over the course of
2025. As in 2024, previously mined voids were filled during Q1 2025 to provide
the necessary ground stability for current and future mining, as well as
allowing a significant proportion of Sasa's tailings to be stored permanently
underground.

Construction of the DST Plant is complete. The plant has produced its first
filter cake, which has been placed in the dedicated area prepared for the
commissioning process within the boundaries of the DST Landform. Expansion of
the landform will continue over the rest of 2025.

Exploration activity

During Q1 2025, Aberdeen Minerals, in which CAML has a 28.4% shareholding with
warrants to increase to 38.6%, received results from the 2024 drilling
campaign at its Arthrath project in northeast Scotland. The results validated
the exploration model and confirmed the potential for higher-grade,
nickel-copper sulphide traps within depth extensions to a prospective conduit
system. The next round of drilling is scheduled to start in Q2 2025.

CAML Exploration (CAML X), an 80%-owned subsidiary of CAML, acquired two
further exploration licences in Kazakhstan during Q1 2025, bring the total
currently held to four.

For further information contact:

 Central Asia Metals                             Tel: +44 (0) 20 7898 9001
 Gavin Ferrar
 CEO
 Louise Wrathall
 CFO
 Richard Morgan                                  richard.morgan@centralasiametals.com
 Investor Relations Manager

 Peel Hunt (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7418 8900
 Ross Allister
 David McKeown

 Emily Bhasin

 BMO Capital Markets (Joint Broker)              Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1010
 Thomas Rider
 Pascal Lussier Duquette

 BlytheRay (PR Advisers)                         Tel: +44 (0) 20 7138 3204
 Tim Blythe
 Megan Ray

Note to editors:

Central Asia Metals, an AIM-quoted UK company based in London, owns 100% of
the Kounrad SX-EW copper project in central Kazakhstan and 100% of the Sasa
zinc-lead mine in North Macedonia. The Company also owns an 80% interest in
CAML Exploration, a subsidiary formed to progress early-stage exploration
opportunities in Kazakhstan, and a 28.4% interest in Aberdeen Minerals Ltd, a
privately-owned UK company focused on the exploration and development of base
metals opportunities in northeast Scotland.

For further information, please visit www.centralasiametals.com and follow
CAML on X at @CamlMetals and on LinkedIn at Central Asia Metals Plc

 

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