Anglo Asian Mining reports record gold production

Anglo Asian Mining's shares rose after reporting record gold production in the third quarter at its flagship Gedabek mine in Azerbaijan.The company achieved gold output of 20,242 ounces at Gedabek - the most since the mine first started production in May 2009 - bringing the total for the first nine months to 37,700 ounces.Production was boosted by a new agitation leaching plant commissioned in June to improve gold recoveries. The group is targeting 22,300 ounces in the fourth quarter and 60,000 ounces for fiscal year 2013. Anglo sold 19,402 ounces at an average price of $1,328 per ounce in the third quarter, down from the previous quarter's average price of $1,438.In an effort to mitigate the effects of falling gold prices, the company is on track to deliver lower operating costs at Gedabek to $450 to $500 per ounce by the end of fiscal year 2013. "Our record quarterly gold production at Gedabek is a significant achievement and highlights the sound investment we made in building and commissioning our new Agitation Leaching Plant in June this year," said Chief Executive Officer Reza Vaziri."Not only will the Agitation Leaching Plant increase production, but it will help to lower cash costs of Gedabek too."At the end of the period the group held a net debt of $41.5m and a cash position of $6.2m. Vaziri added that "with $6m in the bank, and a second gold development project Gosha due to commence full production in 2014, we are ideally placed to deliver on our strategy of increasing our production profile and profitability to deliver enhanced value to shareholders".Shares rose 5.74% to 32.25p at 11:00 on Thursday.RD