Anglo Asian reaches debt free milestone

RNS Number : 6819C

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

12 February 2020

 

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

12 February 2020

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Anglo Asian reaches debt free milestone

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM listed gold, copper and silver producer focused on Azerbaijan, is pleased to announce that the Company has made the final repayment of its bank loan finance and is now debt free.

Anglo Asian completed a refinancing loan with Pasha Bank for $15 million ($13.5 million drawn down) at a seven per cent. interest rate per annum in February 2018. On 10 February 2020, the Company paid the final instalment of this refinancing loan and its balance sheet is now debt free.

All references to "$" are to the United States dollar.

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri commented: 

"I am delighted to announce that the Company has made the final repayment of the Pasha Bank refinancing loan, marking the significant milestone of Anglo Asian now being debt free.

"The facility was taken out to improve the Company's financial performance and provide operational flexibility. Given that the net debt of the Company peaked at over $50 million in 2015, this milestone is a remarkable achievement.

"Since 2015, as well as paying off its debt, the Company has continued to invest in its business, embarked on a three-year exploration programme at its contract areas, commenced payment of regular dividends and built up a significant holding of cash. This amply demonstrates the robust cash generation of the Company.

"The financial flexibility of being debt free allows Anglo Asian to focus on the growth of the business which I look forward to updating the market on as and when appropriate."

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	Tel + 44 (0) 20 3470 0470
Camilla Horsfall	Blytheweigh Financial	Tel: [phone]
Megan Ray	Blytheweigh Financial	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 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 82,795 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") for the year ended 31 December 2019 at budget metal prices.  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.

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.

 

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