AGM Statement

RNS Number : 8649C

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

20 June 2019

 

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

20 June 2019

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

AGM Statement

Anglo Asian Mining plc, the AIM-listed gold, copper and silver producer focused in Azerbaijan, is holding its annual general meeting ("AGM") at 10.30 am today at The Washington Mayfair Hotel, 5 Curzon Street, Mayfair, London W1J 5HE.  At the meeting Reza Vaziri, the Company's CEO, will make the following statement:

"2018 has been a year of continued progress for the Company. We have successfully executed on our strategy which is to become a leading gold, copper and silver producer in Azerbaijan and the wider region.  Building on the hard work of previous years, we have continued to work diligently and for 2018 reported record production and an excellent financial performance. 

"During the year, the Company reported impressive increases in production including a 22 per cent. year on year increase in gold production to 72,798 ounces and a 17 per cent. increase in total production to 83,736 gold equivalent ounces. These increases were the result of initiatives put in place in previous years to optimise operations and which proved successful as we achieved production in the upper range of our guidance.  Significantly in 2018, we further decreased our all-in sustaining cost of gold production to $541 per ounce, placing Anglo Asian in the lowest quartile of global gold producers.  We are confident that we will be able to maintain a healthy operational performance and have established a total production target for 2019 of up to 86,000 gold equivalent ounces.

"We are committed to the sustainability and longevity of the business and to this end, implemented a rigorous three-year exploration programme which commenced in 2018.  The programme's key objectives included updating the resource and reserve estimates at Gedabek, Gosha and Ugur in line with JORC (2012) code, as well as identifying potential new areas of mineralisation and drill targets with the potential to fast track towards production as standalone mining operations. As demonstrated by Ugur, the Company has the ability to rapidly advance discoveries into production in a short time frame. In 2018, we carried out an aerial geological survey - the first of its kind in Azerbaijan - and following this we have, as recently announced identified 31 highly prospective targets for follow up exploration. We are already seeing positive results from this survey.

"At our AGM last year, we announced that the Board was looking to pay a maiden dividend and I am delighted that we were able to do so. In respect of 2018, the Company will pay a total dividend of seven United States cents  per ordinary share.  We are one of the few mining companies on AIM paying a dividend and this is testament to the robust financial performance of the Company. In 2018 we reported a 26 per cent. year on year increase in total revenues to United States dollars 90.4 million and a profit before taxation of United States dollars 25.2 million representing a greater than four times increase from 2017.   Cash generation is a key strength of the Company and enables us to pursue development opportunities.  We look forward to this cash generation continuing to underpin a sustainable dividend policy that rewards shareholders for their commitment to the Company.

"Looking ahead, I am encouraged by recent results of our exploration activities that have successfully identified opportunities for potential future development of Gedabek and our other contract areas.   We also believe Ordubad in particular is an untapped value opportunity. The last few years have been transformational for the Company and as such we now in an excellent position to move forward.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow board members, our management team and employees in Azerbaijan and our shareholders for their continued support and encouragement."

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.

**ENDS**

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

Reza Vaziri	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: [phone]
Bill Morgan	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: [phone]
Stephen Westhead	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: [phone]
Ewan Leggat	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Broker	Tel: [phone]
Soltan Tagiev	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Broker	Tel + 44 (0) 20 3470 0470
Isabel de Salis	St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Gaby Jenner	St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: [phone]

Notes:

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 has a 1,962 square kilometre portfolio, assembled from analysis of historic Soviet geological data and held under a Production Sharing Agreement modelled on the Azeri oil industry.

The Company's main operating location is the Gedabek contract area ("Gedabek") which is a 300 square kilometre area in the Lesser Caucasus mountains in western Azerbaijan. The Company developed Azerbaijan's first modern operating gold/copper/silver mine at Gedabek which commenced gold production in May 2009. Mining at Gedabek was initially from its main open pit, which is an open cast mine with a series of interconnected pits.

The Company also operates the high grade Gadir underground mine, which is co-located at the Gedabek site. In September 2017, production commenced at the Ugur open pit mine, a recently-discovered gold ore deposit at Gedabek. The Company has a second underground mine, Gosha, which is 50 kilometres from Gedabek. Ore mined at Gosha is processed at Anglo Asian's Gedabek plant.

The Company produced 83,736 gold equivalent ounces ('GEOs') for the year ended 31 December 2018. Gedabek is a polymetallic ore deposit that has gold together with significant concentrations of copper in the main open pit mine, and an oxide gold-rich zone at Ugur. The Company therefore employs a series of flexible processing routes to optimise metal recoveries and efficiencies. The Company produces gold doré through agitation and heap leaching operations, copper concentrate from its Sulphidisation, Acidification, Recycling, and Thickening (SART) plant and also a copper and precious metal concentrate from its flotation plant. A second dedicated crusher line has been commissioned and is now in operation for the flotation plant to enable it to operate independently of the agitation leaching plant.

The Company has forecast metal production for FY 2019 of between 82,000 to 86,000 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs"). Of the forecast production for FY 2019, between 28,000 to 30,000 GEOs is in the form of copper and gold flotation concentrate.

Anglo Asian is also actively seeking 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 copper metal production company.

 

END

 

 

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