Commencement of Production from Ugur Open Pit Mine

RNS Number : 6004Q

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

13 September 2017

 

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

13 September 2017

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Commencement of Gold and Silver Production from the Ugur Open Pit Mine at Gedabek licence area, Azerbaijan

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM listed gold, copper and silver producer, is pleased to announce the commencement of production at the Company's latest mine, the Ugur Open Pit Mine ("Ugur"), located at its Gedabek licence area ("Gedabek") in Western Azerbaijan.

The Directors are pleased to report that Ugur is already making a highly significant contribution to Anglo Asian's production. The average daily gold production in the form of gold doré for the period from 1 to 10 September 2017 was 212 ounces which is 116 per cent. higher than the average daily production for the previous eight months. This average daily production is expected to increase further as Ugur moves into full production.

Highlights

·    Significantly increased average daily gold production from Ugur - average daily gold doré production for first 10 days of September has more than doubled compared to the average daily production of the previous eight months

·    Mining conducted by conventional shovel and truck haulage before crushing and agitation leaching treatment

·    Ugur ore treated only by agitation leaching - flotation plant is now independently processing mainly high sulphide stockpiled ore

·    Production at Ugur being conducted in parallel with optimisation and expansion initiatives across Gedabek to deliver a long-term, sustainable and profitable mining operation

Anglo Asian CEO, Reza Vaziri, said "Progressing from discovery to production in a year is a significant achievement and underlines Anglo Asian's confidence that the Ugur deposit will be an important contributor to the Company's future production. Indeed, the impact on gold doré production has already been significant. The average daily ounces of gold produced as doré has more than doubled so far in September compared to the previous eight months. 

"Bringing Ugur into production now, whilst we undertake the previously reported optimisation and expansion initiatives across our wider Gedabek licence area, will offset the anticipated decrease in gold production from our main Gedabek open pit due to the changing composition of the ore. With this in mind, we are pleased to reconfirm our production forecast of 64,000 to 72,000 of gold equivalent ounces in 2017 and building on this in 2018 and beyond."

Further Information

Anglo Asian's in-house exploration team defined a new mineral occurrence in 2016 named "Ugur" (meaning "good luck" or "success" in the Azeri language) from geological mapping and surface sampling methods.  Ugur is located three kilometres north-west from the Company's processing facilities within its Gedabek Licence.

The deposit comprises an oxide gold-rich zone to a depth varying between 50 to 60 metres.  The area covered by drilling and the proposed open pit outline is 350 metres (east-north-east) by 250 metres (north-north-west).

The Company initiated extensive exploration activities in Q4 2016 to define the resource and reserves potential of the deposit.  This work resulted in the completion of a JORC (2012) resource in August 2017 which delineated a total Mineral Resource of 199,000 ounces of gold and 1,049,000 ounces of silver that includes a Measured plus Indicated Mineral Resource of 172,000 ounces of gold and 884,000 ounces of silver.  Proven plus Probable Reserves of 147,000 ounces of gold and 808,000 ounces of silver, comprising over 70 per cent. of the total Mineral Resource, was also declared.  For more information regarding the Mineral Resource and Reserve statement, see the announcement dated 14 August 2017.

In conjunction with the exploration activities conducted at Ugur, development work was undertaken which included the construction of a 4.6-kilometre road between the Ugur gold deposit and the Company's processing facilities. Work is nearing completion on constructing all necessary infra-structure. This includes the mine, geology and medical and HSE offices, hygiene facilities, mechanical workshop, lubricants and spares stores, a weighbridge and diesel store.

The Company is processing the Ugur ore only by agitation leaching. The Ugur oxide-rich ores do not contain copper and therefore the tailings of the agitation leaching plant are not treated by flotation. The flotation plant is now independently processing 300 to 400 tonnes per day of mainly high sulphide stockpiled ore using its own mills. This is another configuration of the Company's processing facilities and again demonstrates the flexibility of the processing routes available to Anglo Asian.

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 Director of Geology & Mining, who is a Fellow of The Geological Society of London, a Chartered Geologist, Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists, Member 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 resources and reserves included in this announcement.

The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Targets, Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Dr Stephen Westhead, a Competent Person who is a Member or Fellow of a 'Recognised Professional Organisation' (RPO) included in a list that is posted on the ASX website from time to time (Chartered Geologist and Fellow of the Geological Society and Member of the Institute of Material, Minerals and Mining). Dr Stephen Westhead is a full-time employee of the company.

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 http://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
Lottie Brocklehurst	St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Susie Geliher	St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: [phone]

Notes: About Anglo Asian Mining plc

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 developed Azerbaijan's first operating gold/copper/silver mine, Gedabek, which commenced gold production in May 2009.  Gedabek 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. 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.

Gold production for the year ended 31 December 2016 from Gedabek totaled 65,394 ounces with 1,941 tonnes of copper also produced.  Gedabek is a polymetallic deposit and its ore has a high copper content, and as a result the Company produces copper concentrate from its Sulphidisation, Acidification, Recycling, and Thickening (SART) plant. Anglo Asian also produces a copper and precious metal concentrate from its flotation plant, which is processing tailings from the agitation leach 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.

 

END

 

 

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