AGM Statement

RNS Number : 8109K

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

30 June 2014

 



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

30 June 2014

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

AGM Statement

Anglo Asian Mining plc, the AIM listed gold, copper and silver production and exploration company in Azerbaijan, is holding its annual general meeting ('AGM') at 11.00am today 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:

"This has been a year of substantial development for the Company as we focussed on capacity building and implementing plans to ensure the future growth of Anglo Asian as a leading gold, copper and silver production company in Caucasia.  Our initiatives have been centred on increasing the production profile and resources at our flagship Gedabek gold, copper and silver mine in western Azerbaijan; and by developing our second gold mining project Gosha, which is located 50km away from Gedabek, into early stage production.

"At Gedabek, we were delighted to commission our new agitation leaching plant which was completed US$7 million under budget in June 2013.  The plant was built to complement the existing heap leach processing facility at Gedabek with the aim of processing both gold oxide and sulphide ores with greater recoveries.  Whilst there have been teething problems in terms of higher than expected processing costs, the new plant has seen Gedabek increase its gold production, and we were pleased to report a year-on-year increase for FY 2013 to 52,068 oz from 50,025 oz in FY 2012.  In addition, despite processing costs being higher than originally expected we reported a cash operating cost of US$626 per ounce which is still relatively low compared to the Company's peers.  

"In terms of our copper production and sales, we achieved record copper sales during 2013 totalling US$6.4million.  Copper production remains on track for 595 tonnes for FY 2014 and we believe are well placed to see the strong sales performance continue.  We were also pleased report post year end a 29% increase in our Measured and Indicated JORC compliant resource estimate to 1,449,537 ounces of gold at Gedebek and continue to carry out exploration and development programmes at our flagship project to further increase the life of mine and future production success.

"In tandem with developments at Gedabek, we remained committed to advancing our second gold project at Gosha, with the 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.  Due to the proximity of Gosha to Gedabek it is our intention that gold ore produced at Gosha will be processed at our existing Gedabek plant, and post period end, we reported that 1,095 tonnes of ore had been mined at Gosha, with 250 tonnes at an average grade of 12 g/t sent to Gedabek.  Looking ahead, we are aiming to contribute circa 10,000oz of gold in 2014, bringing our total gold production target from both Gedabek and Gosha to 62,000 - 67,000 ounces of gold for FY 2014.

"As highlighted in our financial year end statement, the past eighteen months has been a difficult period for gold companies with gold prices declining from highs of c. US$1,880 per ounce in 2012 to lows of US$1,199 in 2013 which affected our profitability for FY 2013.  Whilst still trading profitably, albeit a small profit of US$1.4 million before tax, we did achieve revenues of US$70.8 million and a gross profit of US$13.3 million.  2014 has already seen evidence of stabilisation of the gold price as the market finds a comfortable trading range and this is predicted to continue. 

"We have had a slow start to the year in gold production and also incurred high cash costs during the first five months of 2014, and as a result anticipate a small loss for the six months to June 2014.  However we are now seeing month on month production improvements and believe, with our cost saving initiatives such as reductions in cyanide costs, increased processing capacity at Gedabek, and our second gold project due to contribute this year, FY 2014 will be a transformational year for the Company.  As such we remain highly positive about the future of Anglo Asian.

"We also announce that our non-Board Chief Financial Officer ('CFO') Sean Duffy, is stepping down from his position as of today, in order to pursue new business opportunities.  Interim CFO David Swan has been appointed and we are well advanced in the process of appointing a full time CFO and look forward to updating shareholders on this in due course.

"Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Anglo Asian shareholders for their continued support as we continue to build the Company into a leading mid-tier gold, copper, silver producer in Azerbaijan and Caucasia."

**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 Harrison	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 2013 from Gedabek totalled 52,068oz.  The Company is also developing a second mining operation within Azerbaijan, Gosha, which is 50km away from Gedabek.  Gosha is being advanced with a view to developing a high grade underground gold mine, which is expected to produce circa 15,000-20,000 ounces of gold per annum once in full production.  Due to the proximity of Gosha to Gedabek, gold ore produced at Gosha will be processed at Anglo Asian's Gedabek plant.  Anglo Asian's Company production target for FY 2014 stands at 62,000-67,000 ounces of gold.

Anglo Asian is actively looking to exploit its first mover advantage in Azerbaijan to identify 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.

 

END

 

 

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