Golden year for Anglo Asian

Azerbaijan-focused gold producer Anglo Asian Mining moved firmly into profit last year on the back of booming gold prices.The company made a profit before tax of $19.8m on revenue of $72m in 2010, compared to a loss of $11.7m on sales of $10.3m in 2009.Gold was produced at an average cash operating cost of $358 per ounce, including the government of Azerbaijan's share, and was sold at an average of $1,241 per ounce. The company sold 57,398 ounces of gold in 2010.The company's flagship mine at Gedabek produced 67,267 ounces of gold last year, ahead of the company's guidance figure of 60,000. Production has continued to tick over in 2011, despite extreme winter conditions in the first quarter.Gedabek produced 14,028 ounces of gold in the first quarter, below the 19,555 ounces produced in the preceding quarter. However, production was 3% higher than in the comparable period for 2010, which saw gold production of 13,660 ounces. Net debt reduced from $42.2m at 31 Dec 2009 to $25.5m at 31 December 2010."We are on target to hit our goal of being a debt-free, profitable gold producer by 2012 with a portfolio of highly prospective advanced projects that could also be developed into new revenue streams," claimed Reza Vaziri, president and chief executive of Anglo Asian."Looking ahead, we anticipate that gold and copper production from Gedabek will be steady and combined with a continued buoyant gold price should deliver increased revenues for the forthcoming year," said the company's non-exective chairman, Khosrow Zamani. "In addition, I believe the development of our extensive exploration portfolio to fulfil our mid to long-term strategy of building multiple gold mines will gain traction during the year and add further value for shareholders," Zamani added. The company has not declared a dividend.--jh