TIDMAAZ
RNS Number : 6513V
Anglo Asian Mining PLC
10 April 2019
Anglo Asian Mining plc / Ticker: AAZ / Index: AIM / Sector:
Mining
10 April 2019
Anglo Asian Mining plc
Q1 2019 Production and Operations review
11 per cent. Increase in Year-on-Year Production and Increase in
Net Cash to $10.8 million
Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM
listed gold, copper and silver producer focused in Azerbaijan, is
pleased to provide a production, sales and operations review for
its Gedabek gold, copper and silver mining and production contract
area ("Gedabek") in western Azerbaijan for the three months to 31
March 2019 ("Q1 2019").
Note that all references to "$" are to United States
dollars.
Overview
-- 11 per cent. increase in year-on-year ("y-o-y") gold
equivalent ounce ("GEOs") production to 20,287 GEOs (Q1 2018:
18,307 GEOs)
-- Gold production increased by 5 per cent y-o-y to 17,245
ounces (Q1 2018: 16,491 ounces) due to increased gold production by
flotation
-- Doubled y-o-y copper production to 513 tonnes (Q1 2018: 255
tonnes) due to flotation processing operating throughout the
quarter in parallel with gold doré production by leaching
-- The landmark total of 20 metric tonnes of gold equivalent
produced by Gedabek since commencement of operations in 2009 was
achieved during the quarter
-- 77 per cent. increase in net cash to $10.8 million at 31
March 2019 (31 December 2018: $6.1 million)
-- Gross cash of $17.7 million at 31 March 2019 (31 March 2018: $8.6m)
Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri commented, "I am again very pleased
to report an excellent quarter's production. The first quarter of
the year is historically the poorest quarter of the year due to
winter weather, so an 11 per cent. year-on-year increase, including
a doubling of copper production demonstrates excellent performance.
I am also very pleased to report that over 20 metric tonnes of gold
equivalent have now been produced since the Company started
operations at Gedabek in 2009. Notably, the Company continues to
generate cash with our net cash balance increasing by $4.7 million
despite a $3 million payment of corporate taxation in the
quarter."
Production overview
-- 11% year-on-year increase in GEO production to 20,287 GEOs (Q1 2018: 18,307 ounces)
-- 5% year-on-year increase in gold production to 17,245 ounces (Q1 2018: 16,491 ounces):
o 15,547 ounces contained within gold doré
o 11 ounces from SART processing
o 1,687 ounces from flotation
-- Copper production for Q1 2019 totalled 513 tonnes (Q1 2018: 255 tonnes):
o 63 tonnes from SART processing
o 450 tonnes from flotation processing
-- Silver production for Q1 2019 totalled 51,295 ounces (Q1 2018: 40,583 ounces):
o 6,634 ounces contained within gold doré
o 16,370 ounces from SART processing
o 28,461 ounces from flotation
Sales overview
-- Q1 2019 gold bullion sales of 13,121 ounces at an average of
$1,306 per ounce (Q1 2018: 14,956 ounces at an average of $1,328
per ounce)
-- Q1 2019 copper concentrate shipments to the customer totalled
279 dry metric tonnes ("dmt") with a sales value of $0.7 million
(excluding Government of Azerbaijan production share) (Q1 2018: 608
dmt with a sales value of $1.8 million)
Company financials
-- Net cash, being cash less interest-bearing loans and
borrowing equivalents, totalled $10.8 million at 31 March 2019
($6.1 million at 31 December 2018)
Operations review
The Company mined the following ore in the 3 months ended 31
March 2019:
12 months to 3 months to
31 December 2018 31 March 2019
Average Average
Mine Ore mined gold grade Ore mined gold grade
(tonnes) (g/t) (tonnes) (g/t)
---------- ------------ ---------- ------------
Open pit 362,412 1.06 447,496 0.73
Ugur - o/pit 1,242,877 1.27 212,788 1.88
Gadir - u/g 125,878 4.52 40,020 2.84
Gosha - u/g 10,988 3.44 - -
---------- ------------ ---------- ------------
Total 1,742,155 1.47 700,304 1.20
============== ========== ============ ========== ============
As previously reported, low grade ore (less than 1.5 grammes per
tonne of gold) is being treated by heap leaching, whilst higher
grade ore (more than 1.5 grammes per tonne of gold) is being
processed through the agitation leaching plant.
Anglo Asian stacked 127,990 tonnes of dry crushed ore on to heap
leach pads with an average gold content of 0.80 grammes per tonne
of gold (Q4 2018: 154,901 tonnes with an average gold content of
0.81 grammes per tonne of gold) in Q1 2019. The Company also heap
leached uncrushed Run of Mine ("ROM") ore. During Q1 2019, Anglo
Asian stacked 133,194 tonnes of ROM ore on to heap leach pads with
an average gold content of 0.51 grammes per tonne of gold (Q4 2018:
131,861 tonnes with an average gold content of 0.48 grammes per
tonne of gold).
The Company processed 171,211 dry tonnes of ore with an average
gold content of 2.5 grammes per tonne of gold through the agitation
leaching plant (Q4 2018: 173,332 dry tonnes with an average gold
content of 2.26 grammes per tonne of gold) in Q1 2019. 130,012 dry
tonnes of ore containing an average copper content of 0.49 per
cent. were processed by the flotation plant Q1 2019 (Q4 2018:
129,946 dry tonnes of ore containing an average copper content of
0.53 per cent.).
The Company produced gold doré containing 15,547 ounces of gold
and 6,633 ounces of silver at Gedabek (Q4 2018: 15,444 ounces of
gold and 5,646 ounces of silver) in the quarter. During Q1 2019,
the agitation leaching plant produced 12,649 and 5,345 ounces of
gold and silver, respectively, and the heap leach operations
produced 2,898 and 1,288 ounces of gold and silver,
respectively.
SART processing produced 142 dmt of copper concentrate
containing 63 tonnes of copper, 11 ounces of gold and 16,370 ounces
of silver in Q1 2019 (Q4 2018: 109 dmt of copper concentrate
containing 67 tonnes of copper, 13 ounces of gold and 14,229 ounces
of silver).
In Q1 2019, flotation processing produced 2,871 dmt of copper
concentrate containing 450 tonnes of copper, 1,687 ounces of gold
and 28,461 ounces of silver (Q4 2018, 3,557 dmt of copper
concentrate containing 521 tonnes of copper, 2,752 ounces of gold
and 45,947 ounces of silver).
The Company sold 279 dmt of copper concentrate in Q1 2019 for
$0.7 million compared to 3,774 dmt for $6.1 million in Q4 2018
(excluding Government of Azerbaijan production share). Sales were
significantly lower than production due to logistical issues of the
off-taker which are being resolved.
The following table summarises gold doré production and sales at
Gedabek for FY 2018 and Q1 2019:
Gold produced* Silver Gold sales** Gold Sales
(ounces) Produced* (ounces) price
(ounces) ($/ounce)
Quarter ended
31 March 2018 15,750 7,110 14,956 1,328
30 June 2018 15,537 6,014 10,822 1,307
H1 2018 31,287 13,124 25,778 1,319
30 Sept 2018 18,885 7,416 18,637 1,216
31 Dec 2018 15,444 5,646 15,066 1,231
H2 2018 34,329 13,062 33,703 1,223
FY 2018 65,616 26,186 59,481 1,265
31 March 2019 15,547 6,634 13,121 1,306
-------------- -------------- ----------- ------------- ----------
NOTE
* including Government of Azerbaijan's share
** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share
The following table summarises copper concentrate production
from both its SART and flotation plants for FY 2018 and Q1
2019:
Concentrate Copper Gold Silver
production* content* content* content*
(dmt) (tonnes) (ounces) (ounces)
2018
Quarter ended 31 March
SART processing 223 114 6 22,118
Flotation 819 141 735 11,587
Total 1,042 255 741 33,705
Quarter ended 30 June
SART processing 260 137 6 21,800
Flotation 1,136 195 1,226 16,387
Total 1,396 332 1,232 38,187
Quarter ended 30 Sept
SART processing 162 81 7 17,357
Flotation 2,501 389 2,437 34,573
Total 2,663 470 2,444 51,930
Quarter ended 31 December
SART processing 109 67 13 14,229
Flotation 3,557 521 2,752 45,947
Total 3,666 588 2,765 60,176
2019
Quarter ended 31 March
SART processing 142 63 11 16,370
Flotation 2,871 450 1,687 28,461
Total 3,013 513 1,698 44,831
--------------------------- ------------ --------- --------- ---------
* including Government of Azerbaijan's share.
Note that certain amounts for flotation production maybe
different to those previously disclosed due to final reconciliation
of production and sales.
The following table summarises total copper concentrate
production and sales at Gedabek for FY 2018 and Q1 2019. 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 2018 1,042 255 741 33,705 608 1,715
30 June 2018 1,396 332 1,232 38,187 1,736 4,221
H1 2018 2,438 587 1,973 71,892 2,344 5,936
30 Sept 2018 2,663 470 2,444 51,930 1,557 3,368
31 Dec 2018 3,666 588 2,765 60,176 3,774 6,131
H2 2018 6,329 1,058 5,209 112,106 5,331 9,499
FY 2018 8,767 1,645 7,182 183,998 7,675 15,435
31 March 2019 3,013 513 1,698 44,831 279 718
--------------- ------------ --------- --------- --------- ------------- --------------
* including Government of Azerbaijan's share.
** excluding Government of Azerbaijan's share.
Note that certain figures maybe different to those previously
disclosed due to final reconciliation of concentrate production and
sales.
Company financial review
Net cash
The Company had net cash at 31 March 2019 of $10.8 million, an
increase of $4.7 million since 31 December 2018.
$m
Cash on hand and at bank 17.7
Pasha Bank refinancing loan (6.7)
Letter of credit for cyanide purchase (0.2)
-----
Net cash 10.8
-----
The Company paid corporation taxation of $3.0 million in Q1
2019.
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 until the release of this
announcement.
**ENDS**
For further information please visit www.angloasianmining.com or
contact:
Reza Vaziri Anglo Asian Mining plc Tel: +994 12 596 3350
Bill Morgan Anglo Asian Mining plc Tel: +994 502 910 400
------------------------------ ----------------------
Stephen Westhead Anglo Asian Mining plc Tel: +994 502 916 894
------------------------------ ----------------------
Ewan Leggat SP Angel Corporate Finance Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470
LLP 0470
Nominated Adviser and Broker
------------------------------ ----------------------
Soltan Tagiev SP Angel Corporate Finance Tel + 44 (0) 20 3470
LLP 0470
Nominated Adviser and Broker
------------------------------ ----------------------
Susie Geliher St Brides Partners Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236
1177
------------------------------ ----------------------
Lottie Wadham St Brides Partners Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236
1177
------------------------------ ----------------------
Notes:
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 has a 1,962 square
kilometre portfolio, assembled from analysis of historic Soviet
geological data and held under a Production Sharing Agreement
modelled on the Azeri oil industry.
The Company's main operating location is the Gedabek contract
area ("Gedabek") which is a 300 square kilometre area in the Lesser
Caucasus mountains in western Azerbaijan. The Company developed
Azerbaijan's first modern operating gold/copper/silver mine at
Gedabek which commenced gold production in May 2009. Mining at
Gedabek was initially from its main open pit, which is an open cast
mine with a series of interconnected pits.
The Company also operates the high grade Gadir underground mine,
which is co-located at the Gedabek site. In September 2017,
production commenced at the Ugur open pit mine, a
recently-discovered gold ore deposit at Gedabek. The Company has a
second underground mine, Gosha, which is 50 kilometres from
Gedabek. Ore mined at Gosha is processed at Anglo Asian's Gedabek
plant.
The Company produced 83,736 gold equivalent ounces ('GEOs') for
the year ended 31 December 2018. Gedabek is a polymetallic ore
deposit that has gold together with significant concentrations of
copper in the main open pit mine, and an oxide gold-rich zone at
Ugur. The Company therefore employs a series of flexible processing
routes to optimise metal recoveries and efficiencies. The Company
produces gold doré through agitation and heap leaching operations,
copper concentrate from its Sulphidisation, Acidification,
Recycling, and Thickening (SART) plant and also a copper and
precious metal concentrate from its flotation plant. A second
dedicated crusher line has been commissioned and is now in
operation for the flotation plant to enable it to operate
independently of the agitation leaching plant.
The Company has forecast metal production for FY 2019 of between
82,000 to 86,000 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs"). Of the forecast
production for FY 2019, between 28,000 to 30,000 GEOs is in the
form of copper and gold flotation concentrate.
Anglo Asian is also actively seeking to exploit its first mover
advantage in Azerbaijan to identify additional projects, as well as
looking for other properties in order to fulfil its expansion
ambitions and become a mid-tier gold and copper metal production
company.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
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END
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