REG - Anglo Asian Mining - Q3 and 9M 2021 Production and Operations review
RNS Number : 8545OAnglo Asian Mining PLC13 October 2021
Anglo Asian Mining plc / Ticker: AAZ / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining
13 October 2021
Anglo Asian Mining plc
Q3 and 9M 2021 Production and Operations review
Production of 16,316 gold equivalent ounces in Q3 2021
Cash of $30.9 million at 30 September 2021
Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM listed gold, copper and silver producer operating in Azerbaijan, is pleased to provide a production, sales and operations review for its Gedabek gold, copper and silver production contract area ("Gedabek") in western Azerbaijan for the three and nine months to 30 September 2021 ("Q3 2021" and "9M 2021" respectively).
Note that all references to "$" are to United States dollars.
Overview
· Q3 2021 production of 16,316 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") (Q3 2020: 18,190 GEOs)
· 9M 2021 total production of 48,487 GEOs (9M 2020: 50,702 GEOs)
· Cash of $30.9 million at 30 September 2021 (30 June 2021: $36.6 million)
o Final dividend for 2020 of $5.2 million and profits tax of $1.4 million paid in Q3 2021
· Full Year 2021 ("FY 2021") production guidance of 64,000 to 72,000 GEOs maintained
· Transformational acquisition of rights to three new concessions in Azerbaijan with significant copper reserves, a milestone in the Company's history, announced on 29 September 2021. These new concessions, subject to parliamentary ratification, underpin Anglo Asian's strategy to become a mid-tier copper and gold miner
· An interim dividend of $0.045 per share will be paid gross to shareholders at the record date of 8 October on 4 November 2021 for the year ending 31 December 2021
Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri commented:
"I am pleased to report a steady rate of production year-to-date as we continue to mine our existing sites, and we reiterate production guidance for the full year 2021.
"We made considerable progress in increasing our resources during the period and are now presented with several compelling growth opportunities. The high-quality Zafar deposit, and three exciting new contract areas, significantly strengthen our copper inventories. These will underpin our future long-term production and transition to a mid-tier producer."
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 until the release of this announcement.
For further information please contact:
Reza Vaziri
Anglo Asian Mining plc
Tel: +994 12 596 3350
Bill Morgan
Anglo Asian Mining plc
Tel: +994 502 910 400
Stephen Westhead
Anglo Asian Mining plc
Tel: +994 502 916 894
Ewan Leggat
Adam Cowl
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP
Nominated Adviser and Broker
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470
Charlie Jack
Elfie Kent
Hudson Sandler
Tel: +44(0) 20 7796 4133
Notes to editors
Anglo Asian Mining plc (AIM:AAZ) is a gold, copper and silver producer in Central Asia with a broad portfolio of production and exploration assets in Azerbaijan. The Company produced 67,249 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") for the year ended 31 December 2020. The Company has a production target for the year to 31 December 2021 of 48,000 ounces to 54,000 ounces of gold and 2,500 tonnes to 2,800 tonnes of copper. This total production target expressed as gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") at budgeted prices is between 64,000 GEOs and 72,000 GEOs.
The Company has recently announced a transaction with the Government of Azerbaijan which grants it three additional concessions with a combined area of 882 square kilometers which include the Garadagh porphyry copper deposit with a Soviet classified resource of over 300,000 tonnes of copper. The transaction is subject to ratification by the parliament of Azerbaijan.
https://www.angloasianmining.com/
Production overview
Q3 2021
· Total production of 16,316 GEOs (Q3 2020: 18,190 GEOs)
· Gold production of 12,847 ounces (Q3 2020: 15,461 ounces):
o 12,317 ounces contained within gold doré
o 13 ounces from sulfidisation, acidification, recycling and thickening ("SART") processing
o 517 ounces from flotation processing
· Copper production totalled 573 tonnes (Q3 2020: 688 tonnes):
o 265 tonnes from SART processing
o 308 tonnes from flotation processing
· Silver production totalled 36,912 ounces (Q3 2020: 31,036 ounces):
o 5,473 ounces contained within gold doré
o 19,526 ounces from SART processing
o 11,913 ounces from flotation processing
9M 2021
· Total production of 48,487 GEOs (9M 2020: 50,702 GEOs)
· Gold production of 37,096 ounces (9M 2020: 43,384 ounces)
· Copper production totalled 1,906 tonnes (9M 2020: 1,895 tonnes)
· Silver production totalled 115,843 ounces (9M 2020: 89,564 ounces)
Sales
· Q3 2021 gold bullion sales of 6,828 ounces at an average of $1,815 per ounce (Q3 2020: 6,599 ounces sold at an average of $1,947 per ounce)
· Q3 2021 copper concentrate shipments totalled 3,549 dry metric tonnes ("dmt") with a sales value of $5.7 million (excluding Government of Azerbaijan profit share) (Q3 2020: 2,084 dmt with a sales value of $3.4 million)
Company financials
· Cash and cash equivalents totaling $30.9 million at 30 September 2021 (Cash and cash equivalents of $36.6 million at 30 June 2021)
o Final dividend in respect of 2020 of $5.2 million and profits tax of $1.4 million paid in Q3 2021
Gedabek - mining, detailed production and sales
Anglo Asian continued to mine existing sites during the period, following the exhaustion of the Ugur open pit in late 2020, in line with previously announced guidance for the year and maintaining steady production.
The Company mined the following amounts and grades of ore in the nine months to 30 September 2021:
6 months to
30 June 2021
3 months to
30 September 2021
9 months to
30 September 2021
Mine
Ore mined
Average
gold grade
Ore mined
Average
gold grade
Ore mined
Average
gold grade
(tonnes)
(g/t)
(tonnes)
(g/t)
(tonnes)
(g/t)
Open pit
902,151
0.81
388,519
0.71
1,290,670
0.78
Ugur - o/pit
-
-
-
-
-
-
Gadir - u/g
54,145
2.05
31,188
1.81
85,333
1.96
Gosha - u/g
-
-
-
-
-
-
Gedabek - u/g
99,847
1.60
54,179
1.36
154,026
1.52
Total
1,056,142
0.95
473,886
0.86
1,530,028
0.65
* There have been some minor changes to the previously reported figures following the reconciliation of ore stockpiles.
The Company processed the following amounts and grades of ore by leaching for FY 2020 and Q1 to Q3 2021:
Quarter ended
Ore processed
Gold grade of ore processed
Heap leach pad crushed ore
(tonnes)
Heap leach pad ROM
ore
(tonnes)
Agitation leaching
plant*
(tonnes)
Heap leach pad crushed ore
(g/t)
Heap leach pad ROM
ore
(g/t)
Agitation leaching
plant*
(g/t)
31 March 2020
132,731
258,121
163,379
0.84
0.49
2.53
30 June 2020
139,752
134,675
161,079
0.79
0.44
1.95
30 September 2020
168,945
149,031
181,200
0.87
0.50
2.09
31 December 2020
107,852
172,206
177,487
0.89
0.59
1.81
FY 2020
549,280
714,033
683,145
0.85
0.51
2.17
31 March 2021
110,612
258,097
154,373
0.90
0.61
1.84
30 June 2021
154,619
177,369
164,288
0.81
0.59
1.64
H1 2021
265,231
435,466
318,661
0.84
0.60
1.78
30 September 2021
154,112
194,816
170,829
0.79
0.51
1.65
* includes previously heap leached ore.
The Company processed the following amounts of ore and contained metal by flotation for FY 2020 and Q1 to Q3 2021:
Quarter ended
Ore processed
Gold content
Silver content
Copper content
(tonnes)
(ounces)
(ounces)
(tonnes)
31 March 2020
126,354
1,860
28,831
622
30 June 2020
132,848
1,459
18,354
762
30 September 2020
123,440
1,565
15,530
741
31 December 2020
110,772
859
8,660
693
FY 2020
493,414
5,743
71,375
2,818
31 March 2021
111,060
920
15,782
652
30 June 2021
116,910
1,251
23,870
596
H1 2021
227,970
2,171
39,652
1,248
30 September 2021
126,161
1,231
19,939
519
The following table summarises gold doré production and sales at Gedabek for FY 2020 and Q1 to Q3 2021:
Gold produced*
(ounces)
Silver
produced*
(ounces)
Gold sales**
(ounces)
Gold Sales price
($/ounce)
Quarter ended
31 March 2020
15,034
3,852
11,236
1,577
30 June 2020
11,455
3,562
12,743
1,713
H1 2020
26,489
7,414
23,979
1,649
30 Sept 2020
14,945
5,487
6,599
1,947
31 Dec 2020
13,276
4,614
18,072
1,884
H2 2020
28,221
10,101
24,671
1,901
FY 2020
54,710
17,515
48,650
1,777
31 March 2021
11,541
4,916
5,635
1,697
30 June 2021
11,791
5,922
13,947
1,808
H1 2021
23,332
10,838
19,582
1,776
30 Sept 2021
12,317
5,473
6,828
1,815
Note
* including Government of Azerbaijan's share
** excluding Government of Azerbaijan's share
The following table summarises copper concentrate production from both the Company's SART and flotation plants at Gedabek for FY 2020 and Q1 to Q3 2021:
Concentrate
Copper
Gold
Silver
production*
content*
content*
content*
2020
(dmt)
(tonnes)
(ounces)
(ounces)
Quarter ended 31 March
SART processing
221
114
8
12,895
Flotation
2,773
445
825
17,895
Total
2,994
559
833
30,790
Quarter ended 30 June
SART processing
267
151
7
10,857
Flotation
2,904
497
573
9,542
Total
3,171
648
580
20,399
Quarter ended 30 Sept
SART processing
301
165
7
17,148
Flotation
2,965
523
476
8,416
Total
3,266
688
483
25,564
Quarter ended 31 December
SART processing
421
196
15
21,279
Flotation
2,929
500
243
7,086
Total
3,350
696
258
28,365
2021
Quarter ended 31 March
SART processing
473
276
13
19,850
Flotation
2,375
362
353
10,599
Total
2,848
638
366
30,449
Quarter ended 30 June
SART processing
512
301
12
22,428
Flotation
2,652
394
539
15,216
Total
3,164
695
551
37,644
Quarter ended 30 Sept
SART processing
503
265
13
19,526
Flotation
2,600
308
517
11,913
Total
3,103
573
530
31,439
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 2020 and Q1 to Q3 2021. 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 2020
2,994
559
833
30,790
2,018
2,863
30 June 2020
3,171
648
580
20,399
3,526
4,707
H1 2020
6,165
1,207
1,413
51,189
5,544
7,570
30 Sept 2020
3,266
688
483
25,564
2,084
3,377
31 Dec 2020
3,350
696
258
28,365
4,211
6,763
H2 2020
6,616
1,384
741
53,929
6,295
10,140
FY 2020
12,781
2,591
2,154
105,118
11,839
17,710
31 March 2021
2,848
638
366
30,499
-
-
30 June 2021
3,164
695
551
37,644
3,467
9,066
H1 2021
6,012
1,333
917
68,143
3,467
9,066
30 Sept 2021
3,103
573
530
31,439
3,549
5,712
* including Government of Azerbaijan's share
** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share
Cash
The Company had cash of $30.9 million at 30 September 2021 ($36.6 million at 30 June 2021) and no debt.
Gadir underground mine - JORC Mineral Resources and Ore reserves Published on 23 September 2021 - Correction
On 23 September 2021, the Company published its interim results for the six months
ended 30 June 2021. These included the JORC Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves of the Gadir underground mine, as disclosed in tables three and four respectively of the Strategic Report. The two tables incorrectly gave the units of the contained zinc and copper as thousands of tonnes ("kt"). The correct units for the amounts shown in the two tables for contained zinc and copper are tonnes.
**ENDS**
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