Dividend-paying, low-cost copper producer

Central Asia Metals (CAML) recorded a profit in its first year of operation (2012) and has remained profitable ever since. It has paid a dividend each year from cash earnings, something of a novelty for a junior mining company and has returned to shareholders all the funds it raised (US$60 million) in its 2010 IPO (initial public offering). CAML’s main asset is its Kazakhstan-based Kounrad copperrecovery plant, which recovers copper from waste originating from the Kounrad open-pit copper mine, giving it some of the lowest costs in the industry.

In 2015, Kounrad completed an expansion of the plant, increasing copper production capacity by 50% from its original output in 2012 (10,000 tonnes per annum). The company funded the expansion from its existing cash resources. Recent approval to work copper dumps in the western part of the site will allow operations to continue through to 2034. The company is currently debt-free and had cash of US$42 million on its balance sheet at the end of 2015.