TIDMAAZ

RNS Number : 8529F

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

13 July 2023

13 July 2023

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Q2 & H1 2023 Production and Operations Review

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 the three months to 30 June 2023 ("Q2 2023") and six months to 30 June 2023 ("H1 2023").

Operational highlights

 
  --   The Company announced its strategic growth plan, that 
        outlined its 4 year transition to mid-tier production 
        status with copper as its principal product 
  --   The Company retains its production target of 50,000 
        to 54,000 gold equivalent ounces for 2023 and continues 
        to successfully execute its growth strategy 
 

H1 2023 and Q2 2023 Production update

 
  --   Total production of 23,391 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") 
        in H1 2023 (H1 2022: 28,722 GEOs) and 12,422 GEOs in 
        Q2 2023 calculated using actual metal prices 
  --                Copper production increased to 1,860 tonnes in H1 2023 
                     (H1 2022: 1,283 tonnes) and rose by 42 per cent. year-on-year 
                     in Q2 2023 to 1,013 tonnes (Q2 2022: 715 tonnes) as 
                     part of the Company's growth strategy to increase its 
                     copper production 
                     o Ore processed by the expanded flotation plant in 
                     Q2 2023 increased to 190,593 tonnes (Q2 2022: 114,099 
                     tonnes) 
  --                Gold production of 14,608 ounces during H1 2023 (H1 
                     2022: 20,906 ounces) and 7,867 ounces in Q2 2023 (Q2 
                     2022: 10,866 ounces) due to decreasing grades at Gedabek 
                     o Agitation leaching plant idle from 2 May to 30 May 
                     as ore now processed on a campaign basis 
  --   Silver production totalled 44,576 ounces in H1 2023 
        (H1 2022: 99,548 ounces) and 22,010 ounces in Q2 2023 
        (Q2 2022: 48,874 ounces) 
 

Q2 2023 Sales and cash update

 
  --   Cash of $9.4 million at 30 June 2023 (31 March 2023: 
        $10.7 million), with inventory valued at $8.9 millionconsisting 
        of 2,366 ounces of gold valued at $4.5 million and 
        copper concentrate valued at $4.4 million 
  --   The Company completed the sale of 1,000 ounces of gold 
        bullion on 30 June 2023 at $1,947.5 per ounce under 
        the Company's hedging programme, compared to the LBMA 
        PM price of $1,912.25 generating additional revenue 
        of $35,250 
 

Reza Vaziri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Anglo Asian, commented:

"During the first half of this year, we were delighted to announce our strategic growth plan, which will see Anglo Asian reach its operational potential in becoming a producer of circa 36,000 tonnes of copper equivalent by 2028. This is underpinned by the three new contract areas acquired during 2022 and our enhanced strategic focus on copper. The execution of this plan is progressing well, with a number of our assets achieving developmental milestones during the first half of 2023. In particular, Gilar is still on track to begin production in the fourth quarter of the year."

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: +994 12 596 3350 
 Bill Morgan, Chief Financial Officer                            Tel: +994 502 910 400 
 Stephen Westhead, Vice President                                Tel: +994 502 916 894 
 
 SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker)   Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470 
  Ewan Leggat 
  Adam Cowl 
 
 Hudson Sandler (Financial PR)                                   Tel: +44 (0) 20 7796 4133 
  Charlie Jack 
  Harry Griffiths 
 

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/

Q2 2023 Production overview

 
  --                Gold production of 7,867 ounces (Q2 2022: 10,866 ounces): 
                     o 7,375 ounces contained within gold doré 
                     o 16 ounces from sulphidisation, acidification, recycling 
                     and thickening ("SART") processing 
                     o 476 ounces from flotation 
  --                Copper production of 1,013 tonnes (Q2 2022: 715 tonnes): 
                     o 146 tonnes from SART processing 
                     o 867 tonnes from flotation processing e 
  --                Silver production totalled 22,010 ounces (Q2 2022: 
                     48,874 ounces): 
                     o 3,593 ounces contained within gold doré 
                     o 10,348 ounces from SART processing 
                     o 8,069 ounces from flotation 
 

Q2 2023 Sales overview

 
  --   Total gold bullion sales of 4,787 ounces at an average 
        of $1,992 per ounce (Q2 2022: 3,754 ounces at an average 
        of $1,895 per ounce) 
  --   The 4,787 ounces of gold sold include 1,000 ounces 
        sold on 30 June 2023 under the Company's hedge programme 
        for $1,947.50 per ounce when the LBMA PM gold price 
        was $1,912.25 
  --   Total concentrate sales of 5,501 dry metric tonnes 
        ("dmt") with a value of $7.7 million (Q2 2022: 4,642 
        dmt with a value of $8.1 million) 
 

Q2 2023 Financial overview

 
  --   Cash of $9.4 million ( $10.7 million at 31 March 2023) 
  --   Unsold gold dor é and copper concentrate inventory 
        of $8.9 million 
 

Q1 2023 Operations review

The Company mined the following ore during FY 2022 and the six months to 30 June 2023:

 
                12 months to          3 months to          3 months to 
               31 December 2022       31 March 2023        30 June 2023 
                         Average              Average              Average 
                            gold        Ore      gold        Ore      gold 
 Mine        Ore mined     grade      mined     grade      mined     grade 
              (tonnes)     (g/t)   (tonnes)     (g/t)   (tonnes)     (g/t) 
            ----------  --------  ---------  --------  ---------  -------- 
 Open pit    1,705,337      0.47    415,365      0.43    591,118      0.30 
 Gadir - 
  u/g          136,715      1.41     38,867      1.64     46,334      1.54 
 Gedabek 
  - u/g        373,915      1.30          -         -          -         - 
            ----------  --------  ---------  --------  ---------  -------- 
 Total       2,215,967      0.67    454,232      0.53    637,452      0.39 
----------  ----------  --------  ---------  --------  ---------  -------- 
 

The Company processed the following amounts and grades of ore by leaching for FY 2022 and the six months to 30 June 2023:

 
 Quarter ended                  Ore processed                   Gold grade of ore processed 
                    -------------------------------------  ------------------------------------ 
                         Heap         Heap                      Heap         Heap 
                         leach        leach     Agitation       leach        leach    Agitation 
                      pad crushed    pad ROM     leaching    pad crushed    pad ROM    leaching 
                          ore          ore        plant*         ore          ore       plant* 
                       (tonnes)      (tonnes)    (tonnes)       (g/t)        (g/t)      (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       196,595     62,006         0.74         0.49        1.3 
 30 June 2023           56,522       203,016     105,213        0.75         0.46        1.4 
                    -------------  ----------  ----------  -------------  ---------  ---------- 
 H1 2023               151,040       399,611     167,219        0.75         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 the six months ended 30 June 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 
 30 June 2023           190,593         1,033           10,380           1,191 
                    --------------  -------------  ---------------  --------------- 
 H1 2023                383,109         2,520           30,167           2,324 
------------------  --------------  -------------  ---------------  --------------- 
 

The following table summarises gold doré production and sales at Gedabek for FY 2022 and six months ended 30 June 2023:

 
Quarter ended   Gold produced*     Silver     Gold sales**  Gold Sales 
                   (ounces)       produced*     (ounces)       price 
                                  (ounces)                   ($/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 
30 June 2023        7,375          3,593         4,787        1,992 
                --------------  -----------  -------------  ---------- 
H1 2023             13,340         6,434         10,506       1,939 
--------------  --------------  -----------  -------------  ---------- 
 

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 the six months ended 30 June 2023 is as follows:

 
 Quarter                        Gold                               Silver 
  ended 
                  Agitation     Heap        Total     Agitation     Heap        Total 
                   leaching    leaching                leaching    leaching 
                   (ounces)    (ounces)    (ounces)    (ounces)    (ounces)    (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 
---------------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ---------- 
 31 March 2023      2,105       3,860       5,965       1,077       1,764       2,841 
 30 June 2023       3,463       3,912       7,375       1,735       1,858       3,593 
                 ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ---------- 
 H1 2023            5,568       7,772      13,340       2,812       3,622       6,434 
---------------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ----------  ---------- 
 

The following table summarises copper concentrate production from both the Company's SART and flotation plants at Gedabek for FY 2022 and the six months ended 30 June 2023 is as follows:

 
                              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 
                             ------------  ---------  ---------  --------- 
 Quarter ended 30 June 
 SART processing                  272         146         16       10,348 
 Flotation                       5,613        867        476       8,069 
                             ------------  ---------  ---------  --------- 
 Total                           5,885       1,013       492       18,417 
                             ------------  ---------  ---------  --------- 
 

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 the six months ended 30 June 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 
 30 June 2023        5,885       1,013       492       18,417       5,501          7,678 
                 ------------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ------------  -------------- 
 H1 2023            10,793       1,860      1,268      38,142       6,648         10,421 
---------------  ------------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ------------  -------------- 
 

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share

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