Publication of 2020 Sustainability Report

26 April 2021

CENTRAL ASIA METALS PLC

('CAML' or the 'Company')

Publication of 2020 Sustainability Report

Central Asia Metals plc (AIM: CAML) announces that it has today published its 2020 Sustainability Report, which covers its activities for the year ended 31 December 2020, both at Group level and at the Sasa zinc-lead mine in North Macedonia ('Sasa') and the Kounrad dump leach, solvent extraction and electro-winning ('SX-EW') copper recovery plant in Kazakhstan ('Kounrad').

The report is available to view on the Company's website at:

https://www.centralasiametals.com/investors/reports-and-presentations/ 

This is the Company's second Sustainability Report and the first in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative ('GRI') Standards 'Core option'. It covers CAML's approach to transparent business conduct, maintaining safe operations and healthy working environments, maximising the value it creates for stakeholders and its efforts to minimise negative environmental or social impacts.

Forming the foundation for the 2020 Sustainability Report, CAML engaged external consultants, ERM, to conduct an independent stakeholder engagement exercise to verify and assess the relative importance of material sustainability topics for the Company and its stakeholders. The report is structured covering these topics and providing qualitative information and quantitative data on each.

During 2020, CAML identified four of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals ('SDGs') to which the Company has the capacity to best contribute and its commitments to the following goals are set out in the Sustainability Report:

·    No poverty

·    Good health and well-being

·    Quality education

·    Decent work and economic growth

CAML has committed to the following 2021 and/or long-term targets with a view to maintaining momentum in its sustainability achievements for the future and will report on its performance in these key areas in next year's Sustainability Report. Additional targets will be set going forwards as appropriate. Executive Director and Senior Management remuneration will reflect performance against these goals:

·    Zero human rights abuses

·    Zero fatalities

·    Demonstrate a 15% decrease in the lost time injury frequency rate ('LTIFR') over the last five-year period (2021 LTIFR should be below 1.16)

·    Implement a three-year collective agreement at Sasa during 2021

·    Ensure during 2021 that all employees are moved onto a permanent contract after 12 months' employment at Sasa

·    Zero severe or major environmental incidents

·    Zero severe or major community related incidents

·    0.25% Group revenue committed to social investment

Nigel Robinson, Chief Executive Officer, Commented:

"2020 was a challenging year for CAML, and many global businesses, as we worked hard to protect the welfare of our employees and contractors in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as dealing with the Sasa Tailings Storage Facility 4 ('TSF4') incident in September 2020.

"However, I believe our overall sustainability performance was strong and I was particularly pleased that we recorded no lost time injuries at either operation, demonstrating our commitment to safety. By the end of 2020, we had removed an estimated 95% of the spilled TSF4 tailings, whilst working collaboratively with local and national stakeholders and keeping our shareholders informed.

"We hired a Group People Manager in 2020 who is helping us to further develop our employees and HR practices. We continued to strengthen business governance during the year, which included the development of a formal Human Rights Policy, and we continued to support the worthy causes in our local communities, many of which were COVID-19 related in 2020.

"Sustainability is central to our business and, as a Group, we appreciate that our stakeholders require clear, balanced and transparent disclosure on environmental, social and governance issues. We believe that, in publishing our 2020 Sustainability Report in accordance with GRI standards, we are demonstrating our commitment to this standard of reporting going forwards. We welcome any feedback from our stakeholders."

For further information contact:

Note to editors:

Central Asia Metals, an AIM-listed 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.

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