AGM Statement

RNS Number : 0754I

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

28 June 2013

 



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

28 June 2013

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

AGM Statement

Anglo Asian Mining plc, the AIM listed gold producer in Azerbaijan, is holding its annual general meeting ('AGM') today at 11am at the offices of Squire Sanders (UK) LLP, 7 Devonshire Square, Cutlers Gardens, London EC2M 4YH.  At the meeting Reza Vaziri, the Company's CEO, will make the following statement at the AGM:

"We have made excellent progress in fulfilling our strategy of establishing Anglo Asian as a leading gold and copper production company in Azerbaijan and indeed Caucasia.  Financially we were delighted to report another robust performance, with profit before tax totalling US$28.6 million on revenues of US$73.5 million,  driven by the production and sales of gold, silver and copper concentrate from our flagship mine Gedabek, located in western Azerbaijan ('Gedabek').

"As highlighted, we are a highly profitable, low cost mining company with an extensive portfolio of production and development assets in Azerbaijan.  We have a clear growth strategy to unlock the intrinsic value of these projects which we believe will contribute to our production profile, reserve estimates and shareholder value.

"Our Gedabek mine which has a reserve base of 744,038 ounces and over 1 million ounces in resources in the Measured and Indicated categories, produced 50,215 ounces of gold at a cash cost of US$668 per ounce, 20,133 ounces of silver and 502 tonnes of copper concentrate in FY 2012.  During the course of 2012/2013 we have been highly active developing and implementing plans to ensure the future growth of Gedabek and indeed the production levels.  With this in mind, we were delighted to announce the commissioning of our new agitation leaching plant at Gedabek, which, importantly was delivered on time and US$7million under its US$52 million budget, and US$15 million under the available funding facility.  The plant has been built in addition to the existing heap leach operation at Gedabek, to improve gold recoveries and lower production costs.  Commissioning has been successful and we remain confident of ramping Gedabek's production to 60,000 ounces of gold and achieving operating costs to US$450-500 per ounce in FY 2013.

"In tandem with the above improvements, we are currently developing our second gold project at Gosha, only 50km away from Gedabek, with a view to developing a small, high grade, underground gold mine with an average rate of production of 15,000 to 20,000 ounces per annum.  With mining development due to begin in H2 2013 and production targeted for 2014, we envisage we should become an 80,000-90,000 ounces per annum low cost gold producer by the end of 2014.    

"With these developments in mind, I believe Anglo Asian has made excellent progress delivering significant milestones over the past year.  We have an excellent foundation for growth from which we can deliver on our objectives of becoming a significant mid-tier mining and production 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.

 

END

 

 

AGMUBUBROOANUAR