LONDON (Alliance News) - Anglo Asian Mining PLC, a company with gold, copper and silver mines in western Azerbaijan, Wednesday said it is constructing a pilot copper recovery plant and is working on a new life of mine plan at its Gedabek mine as it reported its production is still in line with its full-year production target.
In the third quarter ended September 30, the company produced 16,178 ounces of gold, an increase from the 15,736 ounces produced in the second quarter. From the third quarter production, 998 ounces came from its Gosha mine.
In the third quarter, the company produced 5,504 ounces of silver, down from the 9,785 ounces produced in the previous quarter and copper production during the third quarter from its Gedabek project totalled 210 tonnes.
At "Gedabek, there are continuing problems with low recovery of gold from the ore currently being mined which has a high copper content, and is often associated with deeper mining. This has led to increased operational costs due to the high consumption of cyanide," it said in a statement.
To fully exploit the potential of the copper and gold resources at Gedabek, the company has hired English firm CAE Mining to develop a new life of mine plan, due to be completed between December and January 2015. It is also constructing a low-capital-cost flotation plant as a pilot for a future full scale copper recovery plant. Anglo Asian is currently evaluating how to finance the plant, including 100% debt financing, it said.
During the third quarter, the company sold 13,797 ounces of gold at an average price of USD1,281 per ounce, up from the 13,142 ounces sold in the second quarter for an average price of USD1,292.
It shipped a total of 250 dry metric tonnes containing 123 tonnes of copper and 6,639 ounces of silver. In the first three quarters it has sold USD2.9 million worth of copper concentrate.
For the nine months ended September 30, the company has produced 43,232 ounces of gold, 27,419 ounces of silver and 580 tonnes of copper. Anglo Asian has reiterated it is on its way to fulfilling its full year production target of 62,000 ounces of gold and 750 tonnes of copper, it said.
At the end of June 30, the company reported debts totalling USD51.1 million with a cash balance of USD5.1 million.
Anglo Asian shares were down 4.4% to 8.60 pence per share Wednesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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Anglo Asian (AAZ)