Q3 and 9M 2022 Production and Operations review

RNS Number : 7158C

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

13 October 2022

 

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

13 October 2022

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Q3 and 9M 2022 Production and Operations review

Production of 14,309 gold equivalent ounces in Q3 2022

Cash of $15.3 million at 30 September 2022

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM-listed gold, copper and silver producer operating in Azerbaijan, is pleased to provide a production, sales and operations review for the three and nine months to 30 September 2022 ("Q3 2022" and "9M 2022" respectively).

Operational update

· Transformational acquisition of rights to three new concessions with significant copper reserves was passed into law on 5 July 2022

· Zafar mine design has advanced well

o Portal location has been identified close to the processing facilities

o Geotechnical drilling is complete, with drill core testing underway

o Underground mining fleet and ancillary equipment have been selected for purchase

Production update

· Q3 2022 production of 14,309 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") (Q3 2021: 16,316 GEOs)

· 9M 2022 total production of 43,081 GEOs (9M 2021: 48,487 GEOs)

· Full Year 2022 ("FY 2022") production guidance of 54,000 to 58,000 GEOs maintained

Cash and inventory update

·   Cash of $15.3 million at 30 September 2022 (30 June 2022: $21.2 million) with the following payments made in Q3 2022

o Final 2021 dividend of $4.0 million

o Profits tax of $0.3 million

o Further investment of $0.8 million in Libero Copper & Gold Corporation

o $1.2 million paid for the acquisition of exploration data and associated studies and reports relating to Garadagh and Xarxar from AzerGold

·   An interim dividend for 2022 of US 4 cents ( Sterling 3.5559 pence) per ordinary share will be paid gross to shareholders on 3 November 2022

· The Company had inventory at market value of $15.5 million at 30 September 2022 (gold and silver bullion of $11.8 million and copper concentrate of $3.7 million)

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri commented:

"The Company is delighted to report a good third quarter and year to date performance. Production figures remain robust, with total production of 14,309 gold equivalent ounces in the quarter, which remains largely in line with the output in the same period in the previous year. Copper production totalled 609 tonnes and silver totalled 45,063 ounces, an increase in production relative to the prior year period.

"We are also pleased to report an excellent advancement of the new mine at Zafar. Geotechnical drilling is complete, and the drill core is now in the process of being tested. We remain on track to bring Zafar into production in 2023.

"We look forward to updating the market on our strategy for developing of our new mines and the three new license areas in due course."

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:

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 Adam Cowl	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Broker	Tel: [phone]
Charlie Jack Harry Griffiths	Hudson Sandler	Tel: [phone]

Notes to editors:

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 produced 64,610 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") for the year ended 31 December 2021. 

In December 2021, the Company undertook a private placement which acquired 19.8 per cent. of Libero Copper & Gold Corporation ("Libero"). The transaction was completed in January 2022. 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.   

On 5 July 2022, the Government of Azerbaijan ratified amendments to its Production Sharing Agreement, granting Anglo Asian three additional concessions totalling a combined area of 882 square kilometres. This includes the Garadagh porphyry copper deposit, with a Soviet classified resource of over 300,000 tonnes of copper. The acquisition of these concessions is transformational to Anglo Asian's asset portfolio and underpins the strategic target of transitioning into a mid-tier copper focused miner.

https://www.angloasianmining.com/

Production overview

Q3 2022

· Total production of 14,309 GEOs (Q3 2021: 16,316 GEOs)

· Gold production of 11,087 ounces (Q3 2021: 12,847 ounces):

o 10,473 ounces contained within gold doré

o 33 ounces from sulfidisation, acidification, recycling and thickening ("SART") processing

o 581 ounces from flotation processing

· Copper production totalled 609 tonnes (Q3 2021: 573 tonnes):

o 208 tonnes from SART processing

o 401 tonnes from flotation processing

· Silver production totalled 45,063 ounces (Q3 2021: 36,912 ounces):

o 6,949 ounces contained within gold doré

o 24,020 ounces from SART processing

o 14,094 ounces from flotation processing

9M 2022

· Total production of 43,081 GEOs (9M 2021: 48,487 GEOs)

· Gold production of 31,993 ounces (9M 2021: 37,096 ounces)

· Copper production totalled 1,892 tonnes (9M 2021: 1,906 tonnes)

· Silver production totalled 144,562 ounces (9M 2021: 115,843 ounces)

Sales

· Q3 2022 gold bullion sales of 10,000 ounces at an average of $1,727 per ounce (Q3 2021: 6,828 ounces sold at an average of $1,815 per ounce)

· Q3 2022 copper concentrate shipments totalled 1,618 dry metric tonnes ("dmt") with a sales value of $3.1 million (excluding Government of Azerbaijan profit share) (Q3 2021: 3,549 dmt with a sales value of $5.7 million)

Company financials

· The Company had cash of $15.3 million at 30 September 2022 ($21.2 million at 30 June 2022). The Company made the following payments in Q3 2022

o Final dividend for 2021: $4.0 million

o Profits tax: $0.3 million

o Further investment in Libero Copper & Gold Corporation: $0.8 million

o Data purchase from AzerGold: $1.2 million

Zafar mine update

· Mine design and geotechnical sampling for construction planning is well advanced for the Zafar mine

· A site for the portal has been identified close to the Company's existing processing facilities and about 1,000 metres from the planned underground gallery. Geotechnical drilling has been completed and the drill core is now being tested

· Underground mining equipment has been selected with the major drilling equipment being supplied by Epiroc and the mining and loading equipment being supplied by Caterpillar. The procurement of auxiliary and support is also well advanced from regional suppliers mainly located in Turkey

Gedabek - mining, detailed production and sales

The Company mined the following amounts and grades of ore in the nine months to 30 September 2022:

	6 months to 30 June 2022*		3 months to 30 September 2022		9 months to  30 September 2022
Mine	Ore mined	Average gold grade	Ore mined	Average gold grade	Ore mined	Average gold grade
	(tonnes)	(g/t)	(tonnes)	(g/t)	(tonnes)	(g/t)
Open pit	910,541	0.50	360,730	0.36	1,277,271	0.46
Gadir - u/g	67,007	1.43	33,452	1.39	100,459	1.42
Gedabek - u/g	189,764	1.24	110,102	1.12	299,866	1.19
Total	1,167,312	0.67	504,284	0.59	1,677,596	0.65

* There have been some minor changes to the previously reported figures following the reconciliation of ore stockpiles.

The Company processed the following amounts and grades of ore by leaching for FY 2021 and Q1 to Q3 2022:

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 2021	110,612	258,097	154,373	0.90	0.61	1.92
30 June 2021	154,619	177,369	164,288	0.81	0.59	1.64
30 September 2021	154,112	194,816	171,029	0.79	0.51	1.65
31 December 2021	113,623	309,374	151,701	0.68	0.49	1.53
FY 2021	532,966	939,656	641,391	0.80	0.54	1.68
31 March 2022	115,173	273,577	144,275	0.75	0.48	1.63
30 June 2022	82,814	299,168	162,239	0.78	0.53	1.4
H1 2022	197,987	572,745	306,514	0.76	0.51	1.48
30 September 2022	92,398	302,714	162,669	0.81	0.57	1.42

* includes previously heap leached ore.

The Company processed the following amounts of ore and contained metal by flotation for FY 2021 and Q1 to Q3 2022 : 

Quarter ended	Ore processed	Gold content	Silver content	Copper content
	(tonnes)	(ounces)	(ounces)	(tonnes)
31 March 2021	111,060	920	15,782	652
30 June 2021	116,910	1,251	23,870	596
30 September 2021	121,283	1,231	19,939	519
31 December 2021	129,384	1,856	28,480	762
FY 2021	478,637	5,258	88,071	2,529
31 March 2022	104,475	1,921	33,522	577
30 June 2022	114,099	1,293	24,209	745
H1 2022	218,574	3,214	57,731	1,322
30 September 2022	150,867	1,314	18,141	724

The following table summarises gold doré production and sales at Gedabek for FY 2021 and Q1 to Q3 2022:

Quarter ended	Gold produced* (ounces)			Silver produced* (ounces)		Gold sales** (ounces)	Gold Sales price ($/ounce)
31 March 2021	11,541			4,916		5,635	1,697
30 June 2021	11,789			5,921		13,947	1,808
H1 2021	23,330			10,837		19,582	1,776
30 September 2021	12,314			5,473		6,828	1,815
31 December 2021	10,561			5,430		13,153	1,825
H2 2021	22,875			10,903		19,981	1,821
FY 2021	46,205			21,740		39,563	1,799
31 March 2022	8,963			7,574		7,519	1,904
30 June 2022	10,137			7,620		3,754	1,895
H1 2022	19,100			15,194		11,273	1,901
30 September 2022	10,473			6,949		10,000	1,727
Note

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excluding Government of Azerbaijan's share

The gold and silver production from agitation and heap leaching for Q3 2022 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
H1 2022	11,870	7,230	19,100	9,457	5,737	15,194
30 Sept 2022	5,517	4,956	10,473	3,673	3,276	6,949

The following table summarises copper concentrate production from both the Company's SART and flotation plants at Gedabek for FY 2021 and Q1 to Q3 2022 :

	Concentrate	Copper	Gold	Silver
	production*	content*	content*	content*
	(dmt)	(tonnes)	(ounces)	(ounces)
2021
Quarter ended 31 March
SART processing	473	276	13	19,850
Flotation	2,375	362	353	10,599
Total	2,848	638	366	30,449
Quarter ended 30 June
SART processing	512	301	12	22,428
Flotation	2,652	394	539	15,216
Total	3,164	695	551	37,644
Quarter ended 30 September
SART processing	503	265	13	19,526
Flotation	2,600	308	517	11,913
Total	3,103	573	530	31,439
Quarter ended 31 December
SART processing	338	193	16	16,414
Flotation	3,584	550	1,012	16,829
Total	3,922	743	1,028	33,243
2022
Quarter ended 31 March
SART processing	330	188	12	25,108
Flotation	2,586	380	1,065	18,007
Total	2,916	568	1,077	43,115
Quarter ended 30 June
SART processing	316	168	14	25,548
Flotation	3,811	547	715	15,642
Total	4,127	715	729	41,190
Quarter ended 30 September
SART processing	367	208	33	24,020
Flotation	2,805	401	581	14,094
Total	3,172	609	614	38,114

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 2021 and Q1 to Q3 2022. 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 2021	2,848	638	366	30,499	-	-
30 June 2021	3,164	695	551	37,644	3,467	9,066
H1 2021	6,012	1,333	917	68,143	3,467	9,066
30 September 2021	3,103	573	530	31,439	3,549	5,712
31 December 2021	3,922	743	1,028	33,243	4,132	8,941
H2 2021	7,025	1,316	1,558	64,682	7,681	14,653
FY 2021	13,037	2,649	2,475	132,825	11,148	23,719
31 March 2022	2,916	568	1,077	43,115	1,477	3,248
30 June 2022	4,127	715	729	41,190	4,642	8,127
H2 2022	7,043	1,283	1,806	84,305	6,119	11,375
30 September 2022	3,172	609	614	38,114	1,718	3,378

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share

**ENDS**

 

END

 

 

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