Gedabek & Gosha Gold Mining Update Azerbaijan

RNS Number : 6797N

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

11 September 2013

 



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

11 September 2013

Anglo Asian Mining plc ('Anglo Asian' or 'the Company')

Gedabek and Gosha Gold Mining Exploration and Operation Update, Azerbaijan

Anglo Asian Mining plc, the AIM listed gold producer in Azerbaijan, provides an exploration and operational update from its flagship Gedabek gold/copper/silver mine ('Gedabek'), and Gosha Gold Project in western Azerbaijan.

Following the commissioning of the Company's new Agitation Leaching Plant in June 2013, which was constructed to improve gold recovery at Gedabek, the Company is pleased to report that it has recorded its highest monthly gold production on record since the mine first poured gold in May 2009.  For the month of August 2013 gold production from the agitation leaching plant and original heap leach operations totalled 7,600 ounces. The Company is due to announce its quarterly gold production figures for the three months ending 30 September 2013 in early October 2013 and the FY 2013 gold production target remains at 60,000 ounces.

In terms of exploration and development at Gedabek, in April 2012, the Company announced an updated JORC compliant resource of 48,138,979 tonnes at 0.825 g/t gold for 1,276,422 ounces of gold in the Measured and Indicated categories, and in June 2012, the Company announced a maiden minable reserve at Gedabek which totalled 20,312,879 tonnes at 1.139 g/t gold for 744,038 ounces, 0.293% copper for 59,479 tonnes, and 9.456 g/t silver for 6,175,531 ounces (see press release 07.06.12). Since then, an extensive 28,872 metre drilling programme has been completed which targeted an extension of the existing mine at Gedabek with the aim of further increasing the mineral resources and reserves as part of Anglo Asian's exploration and development programme.  An updated resource report prepared by the Company's geological consultants and Competent Person, CAE Mining International Ltd ('CAE Mining'), had been expected by the end of June 2013.  However, CAE Mining had experienced unforeseen delays and delivery of the report has now been promised by 30 September 2013. 

At the Company's second mining operation, Gosha, which is located 50km from Gedabek, significant progress has been made in the development of the mine.  The ore vein has now been intercepted and a trial batch of 100 tonnes of ore was mined on 4 September 2013. The Company will continue development work on the mine and will start regular ore production at Gosha later this year. The Gosha ore is high grade and it will be trucked to Gedabek and processed through the Agitation Leach plant, from the beginning of 2014.   This high-grade, underground mine, once fully developed, is expected to produce circa 15-20,000 ounces of gold per annum. In light of the recent record production figures from the Company's flagship project, Gedabek, and with the commencement of first ore at Gosha, Anglo Asian expects to see its total gold production rising to between 80,000 and 90,000 ounces by the end of 2014, subject to both the Gosha mine and the Gedabek Agitation Leaching Plant operating as expected.

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri said, "I am delighted to report that gold production from our Gedabek mining operation has reached a record high since the implementation of our new agitation plant earlier this year, with over 7,600 ounces produced in the month of August.  In addition we are expecting a reserve upgrade at Gedabek in the near-term which will see an increase in the amount of the mineable ore-body and in-turn life of mine.

"In addition to this we have seen exciting developments at our second gold project, Gosha, where we have begun early mining activities. From here we will continue to develop the operation with a view to processing the ore mined at the Gedabek plant in 2014. This will in-turn optimise economies of scale of our Gedabek processing operations as we fully utilise our processing capacity of both our agitation and heap leach plants, enhance the low-capital and operating costs of our second mining project, and generate further cash-flow for the Company in 2014."

For further information please visit www.angloasianmining.com or contact:

Reza Vaziri	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: [phone]
Sean Duffy	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: [phone]
Ewan Leggat	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Tel: [phone]
Laura Littley	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Tel: [phone]
Felicity Edwards	St Brides Media & Finance Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Lottie Brocklehurst	St Brides Media & Finance Ltd	Tel: [phone]

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.

 

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