Message Ven 9 Oct 2015 09:50

results Q2 production

Mined metal production was at 33,000 tonnes for Q2, 12% higher than the corresponding prior quarter.
At Konkola, there have been improvements in mobile equipment availability through the implementation of improved planned maintenance practices and the roll-out of a rebuild programme. This has contributed to an estimated 20% increase in production when compared to Q2 FY2015 and 18% higher compared to Q1 FY2016. The rehabilitation work on Shaft #4 has incrementally improved hoisting capacity and is expected to be completed by Q3 FY2016.

At Nchanga, although production was affected by throughput constraints at the mill and reduced dump truck availability, the TLP primary copper production remained stable at 4,800 tonnes per month after the completion of maintenance programmes to raise the reliability of major areas in the plant. Vedanta Resources plc Page 6 of 6

Production Results for the Second Quarter and Half Year ended 30 September 2015

Although custom volumes in Q2 were constrained by the availability of concentrates in the local market, production has improved markedly compared to the corresponding quarter in FY2015.

The increased production volumes and cost efficiencies have improved the C1 cost for Q2 FY2016 to c. USc 190/lb (excluding the impact of Kwacha depreciation), compared with USc 213/lb in Q1 FY2016.

Effective 1st July, the Government of the Republic of Zambia has approved the reversion of the mineral royalty rates from the 20% to 9% for open pit operations and from 8% to 6% for underground operations, together with the reintroduction of corporate income tax.
Following the receipt of the 30% force majeure notice from Copperbelt Energy Corporation in July 2015, KCM embarked upon energy savings programmes including reduction of refinery operations and produced c. 80% of copper in the form of cathodes, with the balance being sold as anodes in Q2. We achieved an improvement of 4.6% in power consumption during the quarter. The price of imported power to replace the reduced supply is unsustainable in the long run and discussions with interested parties, including the government, are underway