Q1 2023 Production and Operations Review

RNS Number : 3403W

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

17 April 2023

 

17 April 2023

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Q1 2023 Production and Operations Review

Copper production increases 49 per cent. year-on-year

Total production of 10,969 gold equivalent ounces

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM listed gold, copper and silver producer focused in Azerbaijan, is pleased to provide a production, sales and operational review for its Gedabek contract area ("Gedabek") in western Azerbaijan for the three months to 31 March 2023 ("Q1 2023").

Q1 2023 Production Update

· Total production of 10,969 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") calculated using actual metal prices

· 49 per cent. year-on-year increase in copper production to 847 tonnes (Q1 2022: 568 tonnes)

o Ore processed by the expanded flotation plant increased to 193,000 tonnes (Q1 2022: 104,000 tonnes)

· Gold production of 6,741 ounces (Q1 2022: 10,040 ounces)

o Agitation leaching plant idle from 11 February to 24 March as ore now processed on a campaign basis

· Silver production of 22,566 ounces (Q1 2022: 50,674 ounces)

Q1 2023 Sales and Cash Update

· Cash of $10.7 million at 31 March 2023 (31 December 2022: $20.5 million)

o Further $0.6 million investment in Libero Copper & Gold Corporation in January and February

o 1,200 ounces of gold bullion sold for $1,980 per ounce on 31 March with the proceeds of $2.4 million received in April

o Capital expenditure of $1.5 million on prepayments for the underground mining fleet and a generator

· Inventory valued at $9.6 million at 31 March 2023 (1,822 ounces of gold valued at $3.6 million and copper concentrate valued at $6.0 million)

· $33 million, 7-year revolving credit facility with the International Bank of Azerbaijan entered into in early March to provide both additional finance and operational flexibility for the Company's expansion plans, with no drawdown currently from the facility 

Transformation to mid-tier copper and gold production

· Anglo Asian announced its strategic growth plan to transition to a multi-asset, mid-tier copper and gold producer by 2028 on 30 March 2023, whilst maintaining its ongoing commitment to provide returns to its shareholders

· The Company anticipates a 30 to 50 per cent. increase in total production, which would amount to 70,000 to 75,000 gold equivalent ounces for 2024 and 2025 (copper equivalent of 15,000 to 15,500 tonnes)

· Copper equivalent production increasing to approximately 36,000 plus tonnes per annum (gold equivalent of 175,000 ounces) from 2028 

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri commented: "I am pleased to report a strong start to 2023, with a total production of 10,969 gold equivalent ounces in the first quarter at our flagship Gedabek contract area. We continue to make good progress towards production at Gilar, followed by Zafar. We remain in a strong financial position to deliver both our near-term priorities and our recently announced long-term growth strategy to achieve mid-tier copper and gold production status by 2028."

Note that all references to "$" are to United States dollars.

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, which was incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, until the release of this announcement.

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]

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 2028, 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 2023 to 2028 at Zafar, Gilar, Xarxar and Garadag. 

The Company owns approximately 19.8 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/

Q1 2023 Production overview

· Gold production of 6,741 ounces (Q1 2022: 10,040 ounces):

o 5,965 ounces contained within gold doré

o 25 ounces from sulphidisation, acidification, recycling and thickening ("SART") processing

o 751 ounces from flotation

· Copper production of 847 tonnes (Q1 2022: 568 tonnes):

o 190 tonnes from SART processing

o 657 tonnes from flotation processing

· Silver production totalled 22,566 ounces (Q1 2022: 50,674 ounces):

o 2,841 ounces contained within gold doré

o 8,750 ounces from SART processing

o 10,975 ounces from flotation

Q1 2023 Sales overview

· Total gold bullion sales of 5,719 ounces at an average of $1,895 per ounce (Q1 2022: 7,519 ounces at an average of $1,904 per ounce)

· Total concentrate sales of 1,147 dry metric tonnes ("dmt") with a value of $2.7 million (Q1 2022: 1,477 dmt with a value of $3.2 million)

Q1 2023 Financials overview

· Cash of $10.7 million (Cash of $20.5 million at 31 December 2022)

· Unsold gold dor é and copper concentrate inventory of $9.6 million

· $0.6 million paid in January and February 2023 for further investments in Libero Copper & Gold Corporation

Q1 2023 Operations review

The Company mined the following ore during FY 2022 and Q1 2023:

	12 months to  31 December 2022		3 months to 31 March 2023
Mine	Ore mined	Average gold grade	Ore mined	Average gold grade
	(tonnes)	(g/t)	(tonnes)	(g/t)
Open pit	1,705,337	0.47	415,365	0.43
Gadir - u/g	136,715	1.41	38,867	1.64
Gedabek - u/g	373,915	1.30	0	0
Total	2,215,967	0.67	454,232	0.53

The Company processed the following amounts and grades of ore by leaching for FY 2022 and Q1 2023:

Quarter ended	Ore processed			Gold grade of ore processed
	Heap leach pad crushed ore (tonnes)	Heap leach pad ROM ore (tonnes)	Agitation leaching plant* (tonnes)	Heap leach pad crushed ore (g/t)	Heap leach pad ROM ore (g/t)	Agitation leaching plant* (g/t)
31 March 2022	115,173	273,577	144,275	0.75	0.48	1.63
30 June 2022	82,814	299,762	162,239	0.78	0.53	1.40
30 September 2022	92,398	302,714	162,669	0.81	0.57	1.42
31 December 2022	24,606	213,120	156,285	0.72	0.56	1.42
FY 2022	314,991	1,089,173	625,468	0.77	0.56	1.43
31 March 2023	94,518	195,987	62,006	0.74	0.49	1.4

* includes previously heap leached ore.

The Company processed the following amounts of ore and contained metal by flotation for FY 2022 and Q1 2023:

Quarter ended	Ore processed	Gold content	Silver content	Copper content
	(tonnes)	(ounces)	(ounces)	(tonnes)
31 March 2022	104,475	1,921	33,522	577
30 June 2022	114,099	1,293	24,209	745
30 September 2022	143,838	1,314	24,582	724
31 December 2022	119,819	1,389	18,003	670
FY 2022	482,231	5,917	100,316	2,716
31 March 2023	192,516	1,487	19,787	1,133

The following table summarises gold doré production and sales at Gedabek for FY 2022 and Q1 2023:

Quarter ended	Gold produced* (ounces)	Silver produced* (ounces)	Gold sales** (ounces)	Gold Sales price ($/ounce)
31 March 2022	8,963	7,574	7,519	1,904
30 June 2022	10,137	7,620	3,754	1,895
30 September 2022	10,473	6,949	10,000	1,727
31 December 2022	10,437	4,820	13,645	1,727
FY 2022	40,010	26,963	34,918	1,783
31 March 2023	5,965	2,841	5,719	1,895

Note

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excluding Government of Azerbaijan's share

The gold and silver production from agitation and heap leaching for FY 2022 and Q1 2023 is as follows:

Quarter ended	Gold			Silver
	Agitation leaching (ounces)	Heap leaching (ounces)	Total (ounces)	Agitation leaching (ounces)	Heap leaching (ounces)	Total (ounces)
31 March 2022	5,674	3,289	8,963	4,803	2,771	7,574
30 June 2022	6,196	3,941	10,137	4,654	2,966	7,620
30 Sept 2022	5,517	4,956	10,473	3,673	3,276	6,949
31 Dec 2022	5,831	4,606	10,437	2,684	2,136	4,820
FY 2022	23,218	16,792	40,010	15,814	11,139	26,963
Q1 2023	2,315	3,650	5,965	1,155	1,686	2,841

The following table summarises copper concentrate production from both the Company's SART and flotation plants at Gedabek for FY 2022 and Q1 2023:

	Concentrate	Copper	Gold	Silver
	production*	content*	content*	content*
	(dmt)	(tonnes)	(ounces)	(ounces)
2022
Quarter ended 31 March
SART processing	330	188	12	25,114
Flotation	2,586	380	1,065	17,986
Total	2,916	568	1,077	43,100
Quarter ended 30 June
SART processing	316	168	14	25,582
Flotation	3,811	547	715	15,672
Total	4,127	715	729	41,254
Quarter ended 30 September
SART processing	367	208	33	24,077
Flotation	2,805	401	581	14,094
Total	3,172	609	614	38,171
Quarter ended 31 December
SART processing	438	244	39	20,833
Flotation	2,648	380	645	11,725
Total	3,086	624	684	32,558
2023
Quarter ended 31 March
SART processing	364	190	25	8,750
Flotation	4,544	657	751	10,975
Total	4,908	847	776	19,725

Note

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share.

Certain amounts for SART and flotation production may differ to those previously disclosed due to final reconciliation of production.

The following table summarises total copper concentrate production and sales for FY 2022 and Q1 2023. Note that sales of concentrates are initially recorded at provisional amounts until agreement of final assay:

	Concentrate	Copper	Gold	Silver	Concentrate	Concentrate
	production*	content*	content*	content*	sales**	sales**
	(dmt)	(tonnes)	(ounces)	(ounces)	(dmt)	($000)
Quarter ended
31 March 2022	2,916	568	1,077	43,100	1,477	3,248
30 June 2022	4,127	715	729	41,254	4,642	8,127
30 September 2022	3,172	609	614	38,171	1,718	3,378
31 December 2022	3,086	624	684	32,558	4,606	7,487
FY 2022	13,301	2,516	3,104	155,083	12,443	22,240
31 March 2023	4,908	847	776	19,725	1,147	2,743

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share

 

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