Anglo Asian Mining plc / Ticker: AAZ / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining
8 July 2013
Anglo Asian Mining plc ('Anglo Asian' or 'the Company')
Copper Sales Update - Gedabek
Anglo Asian Mining plc, the AIM listed gold producer in Azerbaijan, is pleased to provide an update on copper sales from its flagship Gedabek gold, copper, silver mine in western Azerbaijan.
In addition to Gedabek's primary gold production which remains on track to meet 60,000 ounces for the year ending 31 December 2013, Gedabek produces a copper concentrate from a Sulphidisation, Acidification, Recycling and Thickening ('SART') process. With regards to the sale of this copper concentrate, the Company has signed a new sales contract with Seagate Minerals and Metals Inc ('Seagate') for 750 wet metric tonnes ('WMT') of copper concentrate +/- 7% over July and August 2013. This new sales contract follows the successful trial shipment of 200WMT of copper concentrate with Seagate which was undertaken in Q1 2013.
The Company is also pleased to provide an update on its copper sales contract with Glencore which was signed in Q4 2012. To date, Anglo Asian has delivered 1,750 WMT (1,500WMT in 2013) of copper concentrate and has exceeded its 1,500 WMT copper concentrate sales expectation with Glencore. A further 550 dry metric tonnes of copper concentrate sales remain under the contract and the Company expects to meet this order in 2013.
The Board believes these copper contract sales will significantly contribute to Gedabek's cash costs bottom line to achieve a lowered operational cash cost of US$450-US$500 per ounce of gold by the end of 2013.
Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri said, "We are delighted to have secured this additional sales contract with Seagate, which will see our copper concentrate product adding to our bottom line at Gedabek and in turn increasing our profitability."
"In addition, we are delighted to report that our new agitation leaching plant at Gedabek, which was commissioned to increase our primary gold production, has performed well to date and we remain on track to produce circa 60,000 ounces of gold for the full year 2013."
**ENDS**
For further information please visit www.angloasianmining.com or contact:
Reza Vaziri |
Anglo Asian Mining plc |
Tel: +994 12 596 3350 |
Sean Duffy |
Anglo Asian Mining plc |
Tel: +994 12 596 3350 |
Ewan Leggat |
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3463 2260 |
Laura Littley |
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3463 2260 |
Felicity Edwards |
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
Lottie Brocklehurst |
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
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 2012 totalled 50,215 oz of gold and FY 2013 gold production target is 60,000 oz of gold in line with the successful commissioning of the new agitation leaching plant at Gedabek in H1 2013.
Anglo Asian is actively looking to exploit its first mover advantage in Azerbaijan to by developing 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. With this in mind, the Company is currently developing its second mining operation, Gosha, which is 50km away from Gedabek into a small, profitable mining operation and is targeting to increase the Company's total gold production by the end of 2014 to 80,000 to 90,000 ounces of gold.