ACG Metals Ltd (LSE:ACG, OTC:ACGAF) chairman and CEO Artem Volynets talked with Proactive about the company’s progress on its copper expansion and broader operational plans.
Volynets confirmed that ACG Metals remains on budget and on schedule to commission the copper flotation plant at Gediktepe in the first quarter of 2026. He noted that all long-lead items have already been ordered and that the project is proceeding “like clockwork.”
Discussing the company’s transition from gold to copper production, Volynets said this shift is expected to significantly increase EBITDA and free cash flow.
“Even from Gediktepe our targeted EBITDA is published on base case scenario, which means consensus pricing is $110 million,” he stated, adding that at spot prices this could rise to around $225 to $230 million.
He also addressed the impact of recent equity research coverage from Berenberg and Canaccord, highlighting that it has improved ACG Metals’ visibility with institutional investors and helped reinforce confidence in the company’s strategy.
Finally, Volynets introduced Peter Carter as the new chief operating officer. Carter brings 40 years of experience and is expected to strengthen operations in Turkey and contribute to future M&A activity.
Proactive: Artem, very good to speak with you again. What does the new equity research coverage from Berenberg and Canaccord mean for ACG's visibility and appeal to institutional investors?
Artem Volynets: Very simply speaking, this increases, as you correctly say, our visibility. ACG Metals is a new company, we are not yet a year old. But we have grown to produce, as of last year, $90 million of free cash flow. And even though this year we will sell a bit less in gold ounces, the cash flow is likely to be not too dissimilar to what we had last year. So it's a strong cash flow generating company. And I'm very happy that two respected houses picked up research on us. By the way, one of them, as of this morning, increased their share price targets, which is a good vote of confidence given the fact that initiation only happened two weeks ago. So we're very pleased with: A) initiation and B) the reaction from institutional investors, who are starting to wake up to this new copper story on the London Stock Exchange.
Proactive: Can you walk us through the progress and timeline of the sulfide expansion at Gediktepe? Are you still on track for the first quarter of 2026?
Artem Volynets: So when one talks about projects, there are two key things you need to have in mind. One is a budget. Second one is timetable. So I'm very pleased to confirm that we are on budget and on time to commission the copper flotation plant at Gediktepe in Q1 of the next year. All long lead items have been ordered. Everything is in order. We are working like clockwork. Great team on site. Very good EPC contractor working with us, which is a subsidiary of our effectively sister company, which also belongs to the Çalık Group in Turkey, our key partner in the country. So everything is on track, and we just hope that copper prices don't run too high. Otherwise, things are working well.
Proactive: How does transitioning from gold to copper production change the company's long term financial and operational profile?
Artem Volynets: It certainly does in terms of that it will increase our EBITDA and free cash flow. And as I mentioned, there is a strong market expectation of copper prices increase. As I said, I hope they're not going to go too high, too fast to enable us to buy copper producing mines in the meantime. But even from Gediktepe our targeted EBITDA is published on base case scenario, which means consensus pricing is $110 million. Once we start producing copper concentrate and zinc concentrate, if you plug in spot prices we’ll be closer to $225 to $230 million. Which means that as of today, we are trading below two times, that is unheard of for a copper company, and only purely a reflection of the fact that we are a new story to the market. And the research coverage just started, and investors don't know about us. So our key task in the next few coming months is to continue educating the investment community about ACG Metals story.
Proactive: Finally, you announced a new chief operating officer this week. What can you tell us about him and his role going forward?
Artem Volynets: Well, first of all, Peter Carter is someone that we worked with in the past. He was my CEO in my previous company. It's always good to work with people whom you know and whom you work. He's a great, straightforward Canadian mining engineer with 40 years experience working in some difficult jurisdictions, which Turkey is not. And I believe he will add a lot of operational expertise to what already is a good team on the ground. But he will also be helpful to us in selecting new M&A targets and running them well. So we are making our efforts to improve what we have and select new things going forward. So we expect Peter to be a solid pair of hands to handle our operations on the ground in Turkey.
Proactive: Artem, great speaking with you as usual. I hope you continue to keep us posted with your progress.