Caterpillar Underground Mining Equipment delivery

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

12 December 2023

 

12 December 2023

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Caterpillar Underground Mining Equipment delivered to Gedabek Site

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM-listed gold, copper and silver producer focused on Azerbaijan, is pleased to announce the Caterpillar underground mining fleet for its new Gilar mine has now been delivered to the Company's Gedabek mine site. This will be the first time Caterpillar underground equipment will be deployed in Azerbaijan. The equipment will be substantially vendor financed and this is the first time Caterpillar will provide finance to a customer in Azerbaijan or the wider Caucasus region.

The underground mining fleet comprises three R1700 underground loaders and two 980UMA underground loaders. Further details of the equipment are available at https://wp-angloasianmining-2020.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/media/2023/12/R1700.pdf and https://wp-angloasianmining-2020.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/media/2023/12/980UMA.pdf. Borusan, the authorised regional dealer of Caterpillar equipment, will maintain a stock of spare parts and consumables within Azerbaijan and major parts will be held at Borusan regional centres in Türkiye and Kazakhstan. This will enable efficient after-sales servicing of the machines over their lifetime, which was a major factor in the machine selection process.

The underground mining fleet are "state-of-the-art", next-generation machines constructed with safety at their core. They are more powerful and contain many new features compared to their predecessors. The operator environment has been improved and is more comfortable. Many new safety features have been added including better access points, multiple fire suppression systems and improved visibility and lighting.

The underground equipment will be utilised in the Company's new Gilar mine, which is currently under construction and development. The deployment of the new underground equipment will require the recruitment of around 50 new local employees, including equipment operators and equipment maintenance and support staff. Approximately 800 local staff are currently directly employed by the Company at Gedabek. In addition, the Company also provides employment for around 600 local residents with the Company's contractors.

The total cost of the equipment is $4.6 million. The $3.7 million balance due for the purchase of the equipment will be paid by the end of December 2023 from the Group's existing liquidity resources. It is anticipated that $3.7 million will be refinanced by a vendor financing loan from Caterpillar. Negotiations are continuing with Caterpillar Finance to finalise execution of the loan which is expected to close in Q1 2024.

A ceremony was held on the afternoon of Monday 11 December 2023 to mark the arrival of the equipment at Gedabek. This was attended by the Group's leadership team, Azeri and Turkish representatives from Caterpillar and Borusan, along with representatives from both the central and regional Governments of Azerbaijan. A demonstration was also given of operating one of the machines by remote control. The event attracted considerable interest within Azerbaijan with journalists from both print and broadcast media also in attendance.

Image 1: Anglo Asian Mining Vice President Stephen Westhead addressing the crowd at the ceremony.

Image 2: Caterpillar equipment outside the Gilar portal.

Image 3: Caterpillar equipment which will be used at Gilar.

Image 4: Reza Vaziri, Chief Executive Officer, speaking to local media following the event.

The Caterpillar equipment will be deployed in the Company's new Gilar mine. On 11 December 2023, a maiden JORC (2012) mineral resource estimate was published for the Gilar deposit.  This confirmed 6.10 million tonnes of mineralisation with an average copper grade of 0.88 per cent. and 1.30 grammes of gold per tonne. The In-situ mineral resource is 54,000 tonnes of copper, 255,000 ounces of gold and 46,000 tonnes of zinc.

The Gilar mine is scheduled to begin production around the middle of 2024 and will be an important source of production, bridging the gap between declining grades at Gedabek's existing mines and production starting from its much bigger Xarxar and Garadag contract areas.

For further information please contact:

Anglo Asian Mining plc
Reza Vaziri, Chief Executive Officer	Tel: [phone]
Bill Morgan, Chief Financial Officer	Tel: [phone]
Stephen Westhead, Vice President	Tel: [phone]
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker) Ewan Leggat Adam Cowl	Tel: [phone]
Hudson Sandler (Financial PR) Charlie Jack Harry Griffiths	Tel: [phone]

Competent Person Statement

The information in the announcement that relates to exploration results, minerals resources and ore reserves is based on information compiled by Dr Stephen Westhead, who is a full-time employee of Anglo Asian Mining with the position of Vice-President, who is a Fellow of The Geological Society of London, a Chartered Geologist, Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists, Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and a Member of the Institute of Directors.

Stephen Westhead has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Stephen Westhead consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Stephen Westhead has sufficient experience, relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that he is undertaking, to qualify as a "competent person" as defined by the AIM rules. Stephen Westhead has reviewed the mineral resources included in this announcement.

For the avoidance of doubt, Mineral Resources figures in this notification are not based on a Standard for the reporting of reserves and resources, such as JORC, as defined in the AIM Rules for Companies.

Notes to Editors:

Anglo Asian Mining plc (AIM:AAZ) is a gold, copper and silver producer with a high-quality portfolio of production and exploration assets in Azerbaijan. The Company produced 57,618 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") for the year ended 31 December 2022. 

On 30 March 2023, the Company published its strategic plan for growth which shows a clearly defined path for the Company to transition to a multi-asset, mid-tier copper and gold producer by 2028, by which time copper will be the principal product of the Company, with forecast production of around 36,000 copper equivalent tonnes. It plans to achieve this growth by bringing into production four new mines during the period 2024 to 2028 at Zafar, Gilar, Xarxar and Garadag. 

The Company owns approximately 17.4 per cent. of Libero Copper & Gold Corporation ("Libero"). Libero is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada and owns, or has the option to acquire, several copper exploration properties in North and South America, including Mocoa in Colombia, one of the world's largest undeveloped copper-molybdenum resources. 

https://www.angloasianmining.com/

 

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