TIDMAAZ
RNS Number : 1510Q
Anglo Asian Mining PLC
16 October 2023
16 October 2023
Anglo Asian Mining plc
Q3 and 9M 2023 Production and Operations review
Gedabek set to fully resume operations following environmental
inspection
Gross cash of $10.8 million (net cash of $1.6 million) at 30
September 2023
Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the
AIM-listed gold, copper and silver producer operating in
Azerbaijan, provides a production, sales and operations review for
the three and nine months to 30 September 2023 ("Q3 2023" and "9M
2023" respectively).
Operational update
-- Flotation processing and agitation leaching have been
suspended since the beginning of August 2023
o Heap leaching continued throughout Q3 2023
o Environmental report by Micon International Co Limited
("Micon") released in September 2023, showing no environmental
contamination at Gedabek
o Formal protocol to restart operations now being agreed with
the Government of Azerbaijan
-- Extensive plant maintenance carried out during Q3 2023
Production update
-- Q3 2023 production of 5,295 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") (Q3 2022: 14,309 GEOs)
-- 9M 2023 total production of 28,686 GEOs (9M 2022: 43,081 GEOs)
-- Updated Full Year 2023 ("FY 2023") production guidance of
30,000 to 34,000 GEOs issued with the interim results
o Assumes no flotation and agitation leaching production for the
rest of 2023
o Guidance will be updated if flotation and agitation production
is restarted before the end of the year
Cash and inventory update
-- Net cash of $1.6 million at 30 September 2023 (30 June 2023:
$9.6 million) with the following payments made in Q3 2023
o $4.6 million payment of final dividend for 2022
-- Gross cash of $10.8 million at 30 September 2023
o $3.5 million loan drawn down from International Bank of
Azerbaijan in early July 2023
o $5.7 million loan drawn down from Access Bank in August
2023
-- $10 million tranche drawn down from the International Bank of
Azerbaijan under the Company's revolving credit facility in early
October 2023
-- The Company had inventory at market value of $7.0 million at
30 September 2023 (gold and silver bullion of $5.9 million and
copper concentrate of $1.1 million)
-- 1,000 ounces of gold bullion sold in Q3 2023 at an average
price of $1,959 per ounce under the gold hedging programmes
yielding additional sales revenue of $27,075
o Total gold bullion sales in Q3 2023 of 2,900 ounces at an
average of $1,949 per ounce
Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri commented:
"This was a challenging quarter for the Company with operations
impacted by the environmental inspection that was ordered by the
Government of Azerbaijan. Our focus was to fully cooperate with the
government and ensure the environmental inspection was carried out
properly.
The inspection's findings highlighted areas for improvement
regarding Company response systems, resources and protocols. We are
now working with the government to ensure these issues are very
quickly addressed. Nevertheless, we were pleased that allegations
of environmental contamination were proved to be without merit with
the report recognising the Company operates within accepted high
industry standards and guidelines. We look forward to updating the
market in due course regarding the resumption of agitation leaching
and flotation processing at Gedabek and progress against our stated
growth strategy."
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:
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 SP Angel Corporate Finance Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470
Adam Cowl LLP 0470
Nominated Adviser and Broker
------------------------------ ----------------------
Charlie Jack Hudson Sandler Tel: +44(0) 20 7796
Harry Griffiths 4133
------------------------------ ----------------------
Notes:
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 which time 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 the period 2024 to 2028 at Zafar,
Gilar, Xarxar and Garadag.
The Company owns approximately 17.4 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/
Production overview
Q3 2023
-- Total production of 5,295 GEOs (Q3 2022: 14,309 GEOs)
-- Gold production of 4,163 ounces (Q3 2022: 11,087 ounces):
o 4,008 ounces contained within gold doré
o 4 ounces from sulfidisation, acidification, recycling and
thickening ("SART") processing
o 151 ounces from flotation processing
-- Copper production totalled 251 tonnes (Q3 2022: 609 tonnes):
o 44 tonnes from SART processing
o 207 tonnes from flotation processing
-- Silver production totalled 5,696 ounces (Q3 2022: 45,063 ounces):
o 1,490 ounces contained within gold doré
o 2,232 ounces from SART processing
o 1,974 ounces from flotation processing
9M 2023
-- Total production of 28,686 GEOs (9M 2022: 43,081 GEOs)
-- Gold production of 18,771 ounces (9M 2022: 31,993 ounces)
-- Copper production totalled 2,111 tonnes (9M 2022: 1,892 tonnes)
-- Silver production totalled 50,272 ounces (9M 2022: 144,562 ounces)
Sales
-- Q3 2023 gold bullion sales of 2,900 ounces at an average of
$1,949 per ounce (Q3 2022: 10,000 ounces sold at an average of
$1,727 per ounce)
-- Q3 2023 copper concentrate shipments totalled 2,358 dry
metric tonnes ("dmt") with a sales value of $3.1 million (excluding
Government of Azerbaijan profit share) (Q3 2022: 1,718 dmt with a
sales value of $3.4 million)
Company financials
-- The Company had net cash of $1.6 million at 30 September 2023
($9.6 million at 30 June 2023). The Company made the following
payments in Q3 2022
o Final dividend for 2022: $4.6 million
Gedabek - mining, detailed production and sales
The Company mined the following amounts and grades of ore in the
nine months to 30 September 2023:
6 months to 3 months to 9 months to
30 June 2023 30 September 2023 30 September 2023
Average Average Average
gold gold gold
Mine Ore mined grade Ore mined grade Ore mined grade
(tonnes) (g/t) (tonnes) (g/t) (tonnes) (g/t)
---------- -------- ----------- -------- ----------- --------
Open pit 1,006,483 0.35 72,819 0.32 1,079,302 0.35
Gadir - u/g 85,201 1.59 8,424 2.34 93,625 1.65
Total 1,091,684 0.45 81,243 0.53 1,172,927 0.45
------------- ---------- -------- ----------- -------- ----------- --------
* 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 2022 and Q1 to Q3 2023:
Quarter ended Ore processed Gold grade of ore processed
------------------------------------- ------------------------------------
Heap Heap Heap Heap
leach leach Agitation leach leach Agitation
pad crushed pad ROM leaching pad crushed pad ROM leaching
ore ore plant* ore ore plant*
(tonnes) (tonnes) (tonnes) (g/t) (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 94,518 196,595 62,006 0.74 0.49 1.3
30 June 2023 56,522 202,788 105,213 0.75 0.46 1.4
------------- ---------- ---------- ------------- --------- ----------
H1 2023 151,040 399,383 167,219 0.75 0.49 1.4
------------- ---------- ---------- ------------- --------- ----------
30 September
2023 25,690 34,621 - 0.83 0.45 -
------------------ ------------- ---------- ---------- ------------- --------- ----------
* includes previously heap leached ore.
The Company processed the following amounts of ore and contained
metal by flotation for FY 2022 and Q1 to Q3 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
30 June 2023 190,593 1,033 10,380 1,191
-------------- ------------- --------------- ---------------
H1 2023 383,109 2,520 30,167 2,324
-------------- ------------- --------------- ---------------
30 September
2023 62,369 478 4,358 363
------------------ -------------- ------------- --------------- ---------------
The following table summarises gold doré production and sales at
Gedabek for FY 2022 and Q1 to Q3 2023:
Quarter ended Gold produced* Silver Gold sales** Gold Sales
(ounces) produced* (ounces) price
(ounces) ($/ounce)
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
30 June 2023 7,375 3,593 4,787 1,992
-------------- ----------- ------------- ----------
H1 2023 13,340 6,434 10,506 1,939
-------------- ----------- ------------- ----------
30 September
2023 4,008 1,490 2,900 1,949
-------------- -------------- ----------- ------------- ----------
Notes
* 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 Q1 to Q3 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
--------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
31 March 2023 2,105 3,860 5,965 1,077 1,764 2,841
30 June 2023 3,463 3,912 7,375 1,735 1,858 3,593
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
H1 2023 5,568 7,772 13,340 2,812 3,622 6,434
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
30 Sept 2023 - 4,008 4,008 - 1,490 1,490
--------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
The following table summarises copper concentrate production
from both the Company's SART and flotation plants at Gedabek for FY
2022 and Q1 to Q3 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
------------ --------- --------- ---------
Quarter ended 30 June
SART processing 272 146 16 10,348
Flotation 5,613 867 476 8,069
------------ --------- --------- ---------
Total 5,885 1,013 492 18,417
------------ --------- --------- ---------
Quarter ended 30 September
SART processing 85 44 4 2,232
Flotation 1,316 207 151 1,974
------------ --------- --------- ---------
Total 1,401 251 155 4,206
------------ --------- --------- ---------
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 to Q3 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
30 June 2023 5,885 1,013 492 18,417 5,501 7,678
------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ --------------
H1 2023 10,793 1,860 1,268 38,142 6,648 10,421
------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ --------------
30 September
2023 1,401 251 155 4,206 2,358 3,066
--------------- ------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------ --------------
Notes
* including Government of Azerbaijan's share
** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share
**ENDS**
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 or visit 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.
END
UPDZZMMGGKKGFZZ
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 16, 2023 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Anglo Asian (AQSE:AAZ.GB)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Anglo Asian (AQSE:AAZ.GB)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024
