OREANDA-NEWS. On 31 July 2008 was announced, that copper in concentrate and cathode production improved significantly in Q2 2008.

Recovering from the severe weather seen in the previous quarter. Benefiting from rising output at the four new mines. Copper in own concentrate rose 13% to 90.6 thousand tonnes from Q1 2008 and copper cathode production rose 8% to 81.6 thousand tonnes quarter on quarter. Improvements continue to be seen in the deliveries of ordered equipment. Equipment availability and delivery remains a key area of management focus

Maintenance to Kazakhstan national grid may affect copper cathode output in Q3. Copper in concentrate production should be unaffected. Good progress on new projects. Taskura copper mine started production in April 2008. Bozymchak gold mine moved into feasibility study.

Balkhash sulphuric acid plant started production. Kazakhmys Power is included in the production report for the first time. Production increased significantly in H1 2008, reflecting rising demand and higher capacity.

Oleg Novachuk, Chief Executive Officer, said “After the severe weather in Q1 2008, we have seen good progress, with output recovering well, assisted by new mine production and improvements in equipment availability. In Q3 2008 there may be an impact on cathode production, as the national grid undergoes maintenance work potentially affecting power supplies. However, mine and concentrate output will be unaffected and we maintain our target that copper cathode production from own ore production for the full year should be at least in line with 2007.”