LONDON (Alliance News) - Anglo Asian Mining PLC Chief Executive Reza Vaziri said 2015 will mark the implementation of the company's turnaround strategy to return the company to profitability ahead of the annual general meeting later Monday.
"2015 marks an important year for our company and a time which we believe marks our turnaround strategy to restore profitability for Anglo Asian," he said in a statement. "We remain positive that we will achieve a gold production target of between 70,000 to 75,000 ounces for 2015, which if achieved, will mark an increase of around 16% to 24%."
Anglo Asian said first quarter production from the Gedabek mine in Azerbaijan totalled 17,053 ounces of gold, up 52% from a year earlier. Second quarter production "looks to be similarly encouraging", with production in April and May totalling 11,839 ounces.
Following a recent updated ore reserve estimate, the company is constructing a small scale flotation plant which is due to be completed in the third quarter and, if completed on target, should see an additional 5,000 ounces of gold and 1,200 tonnes of copper produced in the full year 2015, it said.
"Given the improved start to 2015, and the commencement of flotation later in the year, I believe the outlook for the rest of the year is a significant improvement over 2014," said Vaziri.
Anglo-Asian shares were up 8.2% to 5.40 pence per share on Monday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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Anglo Asian (AAZ)