REG - Anglo Asian Mining - Q1 2023 Production and Operations Review

Anglo Asian MiningAnnouncement

17/04/2023 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20230417:nRSQ3403Wa&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 3403W  Anglo Asian Mining PLC  17 April 2023

 

17 April 2023

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Q1 2023 Production and Operations Review

Copper production increases 49 per cent. year-on-year

Total production of 10,969 gold equivalent ounces

 

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM listed gold,
copper and silver producer focused in Azerbaijan, is pleased to provide a
production, sales and operational review for its Gedabek contract area
("Gedabek") in western Azerbaijan for the three months to 31 March 2023 ("Q1
2023").

 

Q1 2023 Production Update

·    Total production of 10,969 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") calculated
using actual metal prices

·    49 per cent. year-on-year increase in copper production to 847 tonnes
(Q1 2022: 568 tonnes)

o Ore processed by the expanded flotation plant increased to 193,000 tonnes
(Q1 2022: 104,000 tonnes)

·    Gold production of 6,741 ounces (Q1 2022: 10,040 ounces)

o Agitation leaching plant idle from 11 February to 24 March as ore now
processed on a campaign basis

·    Silver production of 22,566 ounces (Q1 2022: 50,674 ounces)

 

Q1 2023 Sales and Cash Update

·    Cash of $10.7 million at 31 March 2023 (31 December 2022: $20.5
million)

o Further $0.6 million investment in Libero Copper & Gold Corporation in
January and February

o 1,200 ounces of gold bullion sold for $1,980 per ounce on 31 March with the
proceeds of $2.4 million received in April

o Capital expenditure of $1.5 million on prepayments for the underground
mining fleet and a generator

·    Inventory valued at $9.6 million at 31 March 2023 (1,822 ounces of
gold valued at $3.6 million and copper concentrate valued at $6.0 million)

·    $33 million, 7-year revolving credit facility with the International
Bank of Azerbaijan entered into in early March to provide both additional
finance and operational flexibility for the Company's expansion plans, with no
drawdown currently from the facility

 

Transformation to mid-tier copper and gold production

·    Anglo Asian announced its strategic growth plan to transition to a
multi-asset, mid-tier copper and gold producer by 2028 on 30 March 2023,
whilst maintaining its ongoing commitment to provide returns to its
shareholders

·    The Company anticipates a 30 to 50 per cent. increase in total
production, which would amount to 70,000 to 75,000 gold equivalent ounces for
2024 and 2025 (copper equivalent of 15,000 to 15,500 tonnes)

·    Copper equivalent production increasing to approximately 36,000 plus
tonnes per annum (gold equivalent of 175,000 ounces) from 2028

 

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri commented: "I am pleased to report a strong start
to 2023, with a total production of 10,969 gold equivalent ounces in the first
quarter at our flagship Gedabek contract area. We continue to make good
progress towards production at Gilar, followed by Zafar. We remain in a strong
financial position to deliver both our near-term priorities and our recently
announced long-term growth strategy to achieve mid-tier copper and gold
production status by 2028."

 

Note that all references to "$" are to United States dollars.

 

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed
inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No
596/2014, which was incorporated into UK law by the European
Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, until the release of this announcement.

 

For further information please contact:

 

 Anglo Asian Mining plc
 Reza Vaziri, Chief Executive Officer                           Tel: +994 12 596 3350
 Bill Morgan, Chief Financial Officer                           Tel: +994 502 910 400
 Stephen Westhead, Vice President                               Tel: +994 502 916 894

 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker)  Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470

 Ewan Leggat

 Adam Cowl

 Hudson Sandler (Financial PR)                                  Tel: +44 0) 20 7796 4133

 Charlie Jack

 Harry Griffiths

Notes to editors

 

Anglo Asian Mining plc (AIM:AAZ) is a gold, copper and silver producer with a
high-quality portfolio of production and exploration assets in Azerbaijan.
The Company produced 57,618 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") for the year
ended 31 December 2022.

 

On 30 March 2023, the Company published its strategic plan for growth which
shows a clearly defined path for the Company to transition to a multi-asset,
mid-tier copper and gold producer by 2028. By 2028, copper will be the
principal product of the Company, with forecast production of around 36,000
copper equivalent tonnes. It plans to achieve this growth by bringing into
production four new mines during 2023 to 2028 at Zafar, Gilar, Xarxar and
Garadag.

 

The Company owns approximately 19.8 per cent. of Libero Copper & Gold
Corporation ("Libero"). Libero is listed on the TSX Venture
Exchange in Canada and owns, or has the option to acquire, several copper
exploration properties in North and South America, including Mocoa
in Colombia, one of the world's largest undeveloped copper-molybdenum
resources.

 

https://www.angloasianmining.com/ (https://www.angloasianmining.com/)

 

Q1 2023 Production overview

 

·    Gold production of 6,741 ounces (Q1 2022: 10,040 ounces):

o 5,965 ounces contained within gold doré

o 25 ounces from sulphidisation, acidification, recycling and thickening
("SART") processing

o 751 ounces from flotation

·    Copper production of 847 tonnes (Q1 2022: 568 tonnes):

o 190 tonnes from SART processing

o 657 tonnes from flotation processing

·    Silver production totalled 22,566 ounces (Q1 2022: 50,674 ounces):

o 2,841 ounces contained within gold doré

o 8,750 ounces from SART processing

o 10,975 ounces from flotation

 

Q1 2023 Sales overview

 

·    Total gold bullion sales of 5,719 ounces at an average of $1,895 per
ounce (Q1 2022: 7,519 ounces at an average of $1,904 per ounce)

·    Total concentrate sales of 1,147 dry metric tonnes ("dmt") with a
value of $2.7 million (Q1 2022: 1,477 dmt with a value of $3.2 million)

 

Q1 2023 Financials overview

 

·    Cash of $10.7 million (Cash of $20.5 million at 31 December 2022)

·    Unsold gold doré and copper concentrate inventory of $9.6 million

·    $0.6 million paid in January and February 2023 for further
investments in Libero Copper & Gold Corporation

 

Q1 2023 Operations review

 

The Company mined the following ore during FY 2022 and Q1 2023:

 

                12 months to             3 months to

                 31 December 2022        31 March 2023
 Mine           Ore mined   Average      Ore mined  Average

                            gold grade              gold grade
                (tonnes)    (g/t)        (tonnes)   (g/t)
 Open pit       1,705,337   0.47         415,365    0.43
 Gadir - u/g    136,715     1.41         38,867     1.64
 Gedabek - u/g  373,915     1.30         0          0
 Total          2,215,967   0.67         454,232    0.53

 

The Company processed the following amounts and grades of ore by leaching for
FY 2022 and Q1 2023:

 

 Quarter ended      Ore processed                                                       Gold grade of ore processed
                    Heap leach pad crushed ore  Heap leach pad ROM  Agitation leaching  Heap leach pad crushed ore  Heap leach pad ROM  Agitation leaching

                    (tonnes)                    ore                 plant*              (g/t)                       ore                 plant*

                                                (tonnes)            (tonnes)                                        (g/t)               (g/t)
 31 March 2022      115,173                     273,577             144,275             0.75                        0.48                1.63
 30 June 2022       82,814                       299,762            162,239             0.78                        0.53                1.40
 30 September 2022  92,398                      302,714             162,669             0.81                        0.57                1.42
 31 December 2022   24,606                      213,120             156,285             0.72                        0.56                1.42
 FY 2022            314,991                     1,089,173           625,468             0.77                        0.56                1.43
 31 March 2023      94,518                      195,987             62,006              0.74                        0.49                1.4

 

* includes previously heap leached ore.

 

The Company processed the following amounts of ore and contained metal by
flotation for FY 2022 and Q1 2023:

 Quarter ended      Ore processed  Gold content  Silver content  Copper content
                    (tonnes)       (ounces)      (ounces)        (tonnes)
 31 March 2022      104,475        1,921         33,522          577
 30 June 2022       114,099        1,293         24,209          745
 30 September 2022  143,838        1,314         24,582          724
 31 December 2022   119,819        1,389         18,003          670
 FY 2022             482,231       5,917         100,316         2,716
 31 March 2023      192,516        1,487         19,787          1,133

 

 

The following table summarises gold doré production and sales at Gedabek for
FY 2022 and Q1 2023:

 

 Quarter ended      Gold produced*  Silver      Gold sales**  Gold Sales price

                    (ounces)        produced*   (ounces)      ($/ounce)

                                    (ounces)
 31 March 2022      8,963           7,574       7,519         1,904
 30 June 2022       10,137          7,620       3,754         1,895
 30 September 2022  10,473          6,949       10,000        1,727
 31 December 2022   10,437          4,820       13,645        1,727
 FY 2022            40,010          26,963      34,918        1,783
 31 March 2023      5,965           2,841       5,719         1,895

Note

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excluding Government of Azerbaijan's share

 

The gold and silver production from agitation and heap leaching for FY 2022
and Q1 2023 is as follows:

 

 Quarter        Gold                             Silver

 ended
                Agitation  Heap       Total      Agitation  Heap       Total

                leaching   leaching              leaching   leaching

                (ounces)   (ounces)   (ounces)   (ounces)   (ounces)   (ounces)
 31 March 2022  5,674      3,289      8,963      4,803      2,771      7,574
 30 June 2022   6,196      3,941      10,137     4,654      2,966      7,620
 30 Sept 2022   5,517      4,956      10,473     3,673      3,276      6,949
 31 Dec 2022    5,831      4,606      10,437     2,684      2,136      4,820
 FY 2022        23,218     16,792     40,010     15,814     11,139     26,963
 Q1 2023        2,315      3,650      5,965      1,155      1,686      2,841

 

The following table summarises copper concentrate production from both the
Company's SART and flotation plants at Gedabek for FY 2022 and Q1 2023:

 

                             Concentrate  Copper    Gold      Silver
                             production*  content*  content*  content*
                             (dmt)        (tonnes)  (ounces)  (ounces)
 2022
 Quarter ended 31 March
 SART processing             330          188       12        25,114
 Flotation                   2,586        380       1,065     17,986
 Total                       2,916        568       1,077     43,100
 Quarter ended 30 June
 SART processing             316          168       14        25,582
 Flotation                   3,811        547       715       15,672
 Total                       4,127        715       729       41,254
 Quarter ended 30 September
 SART processing             367          208       33        24,077
 Flotation                   2,805        401       581       14,094
 Total                       3,172        609       614       38,171
 Quarter ended 31 December
 SART processing             438          244       39        20,833
 Flotation                   2,648        380       645       11,725
 Total                       3,086        624       684       32,558
 2023
 Quarter ended 31 March
 SART processing             364          190       25        8,750
 Flotation                   4,544        657       751       10,975
 Total                       4,908        847       776       19,725

Note

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share.

Certain amounts for SART and flotation production may differ to those
previously disclosed due to final reconciliation of production.

 

The following table summarises total copper concentrate production and sales
for FY 2022 and Q1 2023. Note that sales of concentrates are initially
recorded at provisional amounts until agreement of final assay:

 

                    Concentrate  Copper    Gold      Silver    Concentrate

                                                                            Concentrate
                    production*  content*  content*  content*  sales**      sales**
                    (dmt)        (tonnes)  (ounces)  (ounces)  (dmt)        ($000)
 Quarter ended
 31 March 2022      2,916        568       1,077     43,100    1,477        3,248
 30 June 2022       4,127        715       729       41,254    4,642        8,127
 30 September 2022  3,172        609       614       38,171    1,718        3,378
 31 December 2022   3,086        624       684       32,558    4,606        7,487
 FY 2022            13,301       2,516     3,104     155,083   12,443       22,240
 31 March 2023      4,908        847       776       19,725    1,147        2,743

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  UPDEAELKFAXDEFA