Q1 2022 Production and Operations Review

RNS Number : 3349I

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

14 April 2022

 

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

14 April 2022

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Q1 2022 Production and Operations Review

Production of 13,720 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 operations review for its Gedabek contract area ("Gedabek") in western Azerbaijan for the three months to 31 March 2022 ("Q1 2022").

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

Q1 2022 Production Update

· Gold production of 10,040 ounces (Q1 2021: 11,907 ounces)

· Copper production of 568 tonnes (Q1 2021: 638 tonnes)

· Silver production of 50,689 ounces (Q1 2021: 35,365 ounces)

· Total production of 13,720 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") calculated using actual metal prices

Q1 2022 Sales and Cash Update

· Cash of $29.4 million at 31 March 2022 (31 December 2021: $37.5 million)

o Further $2.8 million investment in Libero Copper & Gold Corporation ("Libero") in January 2022

o Profits tax payments of $3 million made in Q1 2022

· Inventory valued at $8.0 million as at 31 March 2022 (2,012 ounces of gold valued at $3.9 million and copper concentrate valued at $4.1 million)

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri commented:  

"I am pleased to report a solid start to 2022, with total production of 13,720 GEOs in the first quarter at our flagship Gedabek mine. Looking ahead, we remain in a strong financial position to execute our growth strategy.

"We are staying very focused on commencing production this year at Vejnaly and at the recently discovered Hasan vein at Gosha. We look forward to providing an update on production guidance for FY2022 later in H1."

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 Elfie Kent	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 September 2021, the Company announced a transaction with the Government of Azerbaijan which grants it three additional concessions with a combined area of 882 square kilometres, including the Garadagh porphyry copper deposit, with a Soviet classified resource of over 300,000 tonnes of copper. The transaction is subject to ratification by the Parliament of Azerbaijan.

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.   

https://www.angloasianmining.com/

Q1 2022 Production Overview

· Gold production of 10,040 ounces (Q1 2021: 11,907 ounces):

o 8,963 ounces contained within gold doré

o 11 ounces from sulphidisation, acidification, recycling and thickening ("SART") processing

o 1,066 ounces from flotation

· Copper production of 568 tonnes (Q1 2021: 638 tonnes):

o 188 tonnes from SART processing

o 380 tonnes from flotation processing

· Silver production totalled 50,689 ounces (Q1 2021: 35,365 ounces):

o 7,574 ounces contained within gold doré

o 25,108 ounces from SART processing

o 18,007 ounces from flotation

Q1 2022 Sales overview

· Total gold bullion sales of 7,519 ounces at an average of $1,904 per ounce (Q1 2021: 5,635 ounces at an average of $1,697 per ounce)

· Total concentrate sales of 1,477 dry metric tonnes ("dmt") with a value of $3.2 million (Q1 2021: nil)

Q1 2022 Financials overview

· Cash of $29.4 million (Cash of $37.5 million at 31 December 2021)

· Unsold gold dor é and copper concentrate inventory of $8.0 million

· $2.8 million payment in January 2022 for a further investment in Libero

· Profit tax payments of $3 million made in Q1 2022

Q1 2022 Operations review

The Company mined the following ore during Q1 2022:

	12 months to  31 December 2021		3 months to 31 March 2022
Mine	Ore mined	Average gold grade	Ore mined	Average gold grade
	(tonnes)	(g/t)	(tonnes)	(g/t)
Open pit	1,815,857	0.74	469,500	0.52
Gadir - u/g	115,943	1.91	30,712	1.44
Gedabek - u/g	248,792	1.42	77,937	1.60
Total	2,180,592	0.88	578,149	0.71

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

* includes previously heap leached ore.

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

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

	Gold produced* (ounces)			Silver produced* (ounces)		Gold sales** (ounces)		Gold Sales price ($/ounce)
Quarter ended
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 Sept 2021	12,314			5,473		6,828		1,815
31 Dec 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
Note

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excluding Government of Azerbaijan's share

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

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 2020 and Q1 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 Sept 2021	3,103	573	530	31,439	3,549	5,712
31 Dec 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

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share

 

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