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: +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 Adam Cowl |
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Broker |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470 |
Charlie Jack Elfie Kent |
Hudson Sandler |
Tel: +44(0) 20 7796 4133 |
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 $37.5million at 31 December 2021)
· Unsold gold doré 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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