Dividend Guidance & Gadir Resource Estimate

RNS Number : 9340Q

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

25 February 2019

 

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

25 February 2019

Anglo Asian Mining plc

2018-2019 Dividend Guidance & Gadir Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves Estimate

Updated Corporate Presentation

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM listed gold, copper and silver producer focused in Azerbaijan, is pleased to announce the following.

2018-2019 Dividend Guidance

The Company will declare a minimum final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2018 of US$3 cents per share and a minimum total dividend for the year ending 31 December 2019 of US$6 cents per share. The final dividend for the year ended 31 December 2018 will be paid in July 2019 following approval at the Company's annual general meeting on 20 June 2019.

Mineral Resources and Ore Reserve Estimates for the Company's mines

The Company has already published Mineral Resources and Ore Reserve Estimates according to the JORC (2012) code for its operating open pit mines - Gedabek open pit and Ugur. The Company now publishes Mineral Resources and an Ore Reserve Estimate for its Gadir Underground mine as set out below.

Gadir Underground Mine Mineral Resources and Ore Reserve Estimate

A Company estimate of the Gadir Underground Mine ("Gadir") Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves has been calculated (tables included below):

·    Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources (at a cut-off grade of 0.5 grammes per tonne of gold) of 1,775 thousand tonnes at a grade of:

o 2.54 grammes per tonne gold containing 145.2 thousand ounces of gold

o 12.9 grammes per tonne silver containing 736.1 thousand ounces of silver

o 0.21% copper containing 3,295 tonnes of copper

o 0.84% zinc containing 14,470 tonnes of zinc.

·    Inferred Mineral Resources (at a cut-off grade of 0.5 grammes per tonne of gold) of 571 thousand tonnes at a grade:

o 1.48 grammes per tonne gold containing 27.2 thousand ounces of gold

o 5.68 grammes per tonne silver containing 104.4 thousand ounces of silver

o 0.1% copper containing 571 tonnes of copper

o 0.52% zinc containing 2,972 tonnes of zinc

·    Proved and Probable Ore Reserves (at a cut-off grade of 1.2 grammes per tonne of gold) of 797 thousand tonnes at a grade of 2.73 grammes per tonne gold containing about 70,000 ounces of gold, 11.86 grammes per tonne silver containing 304 thousand ounces of silver and 0.17% copper containing 1,387 tonnes of copper.

The Company is currently finalising the Gadir resources statement and ore reserves estimate in accordance with the JORC (2012) Code and will publish the full JORC (2012) Gadir Mineral Resources and Ore Reserve Estimates by the end of Q1 2019.

Gadir Underground Mine Mineral Resources as at February 2019

MINERAL RESOURCES (Cut-off grade 0.5 g/t Au)	Tonnage	Gold		Silver		Copper		Zinc
	(kt)	g/t	K oz	g/t	K oz	%	tonnes	%	tonnes
Measured	540	3.70	64.2	17.49	303.6	0.29	1,566	1.01	5,454
Indicated	1,235	2.04	81.0	10.89	432.4	0.14	1,729	0.73	9,016
Measured  + Indicated	1,775	2.54	145.2	12.90	736,.1	0.21	3,295	0.84	14,470
Inferred	571	1.48	27.2	5.68	104.4	0.10	571	0.52	2,972
Total	2,347	2.29	172.4	11.14	840.4	0.19	3,866	0.78	17,442

Gadir Underground Mine Ore Reserve estimate as at February 2019

Classification         (Cut-off grade 1.2 g/t Au)	Tonnage (kt)	Gold		Silver		Copper
		g/t	K oz	g/t	K oz	%	tonnes
Proved	222	2.81 3.12	25	14.13 2.28	101	0.24	535
Probable	575	2.41 9.40	45	10.99 13.17	203	0.15	852
Total	797	2.73	70	11.86	304	0.17	1,387

Note that figures in the above tables may not add due to rounding.

Exploration Expenditure

The amount spent on geological exploration in the year ended 31 December 2018 was $4.5 million.

Financial Calendar

The Company will announce its audited final results for the year ended 31 December 2018 on 16 May 2019 and hold its Annual General Meeting on 20 June 2019.

Updated Corporate Presentation

An updated corporate presentation (the "Presentation") will be made available later this morning on the Company's website at www.angloasianmining.com.

The Presentation will be given by the Company at the Hardman Investor Forum on Tuesday, 26 February 2019 in the City of London and the Proactive One2One Investor Forum hosted by Proactive Investors in the West End of London on Thursday, 28 February 2019.

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.

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
Susie Geliher	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 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 production for FY 2019 of between 82,000 to 86,000 gold equivalent ounces.

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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