Agitation Leaching Plant - Full Commissioning

RNS Number : 2985G

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

05 June 2013

 



Anglo Asian Mining plc / Ticker: AAZ / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

5 June 2013

Anglo Asian Mining plc ('Anglo Asian' or 'the Company')

Agitation Leaching Plant - Full Commissioning

Anglo Asian Mining plc, the AIM listed gold producer in Azerbaijan, is pleased to announce that following the commissioning of its new Agitation Leaching Plant at the Company's flagship Gedabek gold/copper/silver mine ('Gedabek') in western Azerbaijan, the plant is now in operation, with its first gold production due within the next 48 hours. 

The Agitation Leaching Plant, which has been built US$7million under its US$52 million budget and US$15 million under the available funding facility, is expected to increase gold production and mine life at Gedabek, whilst lowering operating costs.  The plant will have a capacity to treat 100 tonnes per hour of ore when it is fully operational, with estimated gold recoveries of 85% for oxide material and 69% for sulphide material; however additional testing is underway in order to further optimise these recovery rates.  Gedabek produced 50,215 oz of gold at US$668 per oz for the full year 2012, and with the Agitation Leaching plant now in operation Anglo Asian's gold production for FY2013 is expected to increase by 20% to 60,000oz and 80-90,000oz in FY2014.

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri said, "We are delighted to announce that our Agitation Leaching Plant at Gedabek is now in operation, a significant milestone for Anglo Asian Mining, and one which should be transformational in terms of the future gold production for the Company. By processing the ore from our flagship Gedabek mine in the new plant we expect to significantly ramp up production in FY 2013 whilst substantially lowering operating costs to circa US$500 per oz of gold, which should set us apart from many of our peers, and improve our profit margin for this year and beyond. I look forward to providing further updates on the progress of our new Agitation Leaching Plant at this exciting time for the Company."

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.angloasianmining.com or contact:

Reza Vaziri	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: [phone]
Sean Duffy	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: [phone]
Ewan Leggat	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Tel: [phone]
Laura Littley	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Tel: [phone]
Felicity Edwards	St Brides Media & Finance Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Lottie Brocklehurst	St Brides Media & Finance Ltd	Tel: [phone]

Notes:

Anglo Asian Mining plc (AIM:AAZ) is a gold producer in Central Asia with a broad portfolio of production and exploration assets in Azerbaijan.  The Company has a 1,962 sq km prospective exploration portfolio, assembled from analysis of historic Soviet geological data and held under a Production Sharing Agreement ('PSA') based on the Azeri oil industry.  The Company developed Azerbaijan's first operating gold/copper mine, Gedabek, which commenced gold production in May 2009.  Gold production for the year ended 31 December 2012 totalled 50,215 oz of gold and FY 2013 gold production target is 60,000 oz of gold in line with commissioning of a new agitation leaching plant at Gedabek in H1 2013.

Anglo Asian is actively looking to exploit its first mover advantage in Azerbaijan to by developing additional projects, as well as looking for other properties in order to fulfil its expansion ambitions and become a mid-tier gold and base metal production company.  With this in mind, the Company is currently developing its second mining operation, Gosha, which is 50km away from Gedabek into a small, profitable mining operation and is targeting to increase the Company's total gold production by the end of 2014 to 80,000 to 90,000 ounces of gold.

 

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