UK-based Central Asia Metals, which extracts copper from ore stockpiles at the Kounrad deposit in the Karaganda Region, has launched exploration at several promising sites in Kazakhstan. The company's plans and third-quarter results were outlined in a stock exchange filing highlighted by Arman Batayev, author of the Finmentor.kz channel, according to infohub.kz.
At Kounrad, where Central Asia Metals (CAML) recovers copper from stockpiles of already-mined ore, output for the quarter totaled 3,500 tonnes of the metal — 4.5% less than a year earlier. Over the nine months, production reached 9,760 tonnes of copper, 0.8% more than in the same period a year earlier. The report stresses that the operation is on track to meet its annual production target of 12,000–13,000 tonnes of copper.
Sales for the quarter reached 3,500 tonnes, and for the first nine months of 2026 — 9,750 tonnes. Both figures match production volumes. The copper price, meanwhile, rose 43% to $14,000 per tonne. The decline in output was thus offset by the higher price.
The company also intends to develop new full-scale copper mining projects in Kazakhstan. At the Yuzhnoye site in the Chingiz-Tarbagatai belt, analysis for copper mineralization returned positive results. Mineralized zones extend for more than 1 km, with significant mineralization recorded in five drill holes.
Among the thickest intervals is 311 metres grading 0.22% copper. The site's total reserves remain unknown. To assess them, additional drilling of 12 holes totaling 3,600 metres is planned to determine the true thickness of the ore bodies.
At another site — Shaiyndy in the Karaganda Region — 3,550 metres of drilling is scheduled for spring 2027 to test for economically significant metal grades.
In the third quarter, Central Asia Metals subsidiary CAML XD carried out large-scale geochemical and geophysical surveys as part of an exploration project in the Teniz basin in the Akmola Region. Several horizons of copper-bearing sandstones were identified at the site. Further studies are planned.
Central Asia Metals is a British company whose shares trade on London's AIM market. Besides Kazakhstan, it mines at the Sasa zinc-lead mine in North Macedonia. There, zinc output in concentrate rose 18% and lead 21%.
The company is also preparing to acquire Cygnus Metals, which holds the Chibougamau copper-gold project in Quebec, Canada, and to list in Toronto. The deal is scheduled to close on October 27, but requires regulatory approval.
It was reported earlier that UK-based Central Asia Metals Plc (CAML) earned $80.8 million in the first half of 2026 from the Kounrad copper deposit in the Karaganda Region. The Kazakh asset remains the group's main source of profit, generating more than half of its total revenue.