Kazakhmys expects Balkhash acid output end-June

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - London-listed Kazakhmys Corp. (KAZ.L: Quote, Profile, Research) expects the first output from its 1.2-million-tonne sulphuric acid plant in Balkhash, Kazakhstan, at the end of June, the copper producer said on Friday.

"We will start production at the end of the second quarter," said spokesman Nurlan Makhmudov over the phone from Zhezkazgan.

Sulphuric acid is the main chemical reagent for production of uranium by the in-situ leaching method and a shortfall has limited uranium production in Kazakhstan this year.

(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov in Almaty and Anna Stablum in London; editing by Christopher Johnson)