Anglo Asian Mining Reports Q1 2023 Production and Operations Update with Significant Increase in Copper Production and Total Production of 10,969 Gold Equivalent Ounces

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:

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$20.5million at 31 December 2022)

·    Unsold gold doré and copper concentrate inventory of $9.6 million

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

Q1 2023 Operations review

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

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

* includes previously heap leached ore.

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

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

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:

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

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:

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share

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