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Anglo Asian Mining plc / Ticker: AAZ / Index: AIM / Sector Mining
30 June 2017
Anglo Asian Mining plc
Annual General Meeting Statement
Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or "the Company"), the AIM listed gold, silver and copper producer in Azerbaijan, is holding its annual general meeting ("AGM") at 10.30 am today at The Washington Mayfair Hotel, 5 Curzon Street, Mayfair, London W1J 5HE. At the meeting Reza Vaziri, the Company's CEO, will make the following statement:
"I am very pleased with the return of the Company to profitability in 2016, which has been a very significant achievement, and is evidence of our success over the last several years to transform its performance. Our full year 2016 results, announced last month, showed a small increase in total revenue to $79 million. The all in sustaining cost of production of gold reduced significantly from $858 per ounce for 2015 to $616 per ounce for 2016 and as a result the Company recorded a profit before taxation of $6.8 million. This return to profitability went in hand-in-hand with excellent cash generation, with an 82 per cent. increase in operating cash flow before movements in working capital to $34 million, and net debt reduced by $14 million to $35 million at the end of 2016.
"Operationally, we are seeing the mineral composition of our ore evolve over time with an increasing copper content and this has been reflected in both our processing strategy and production. Looking firstly at our production in 2016 - the major theme was a large upswing in copper production, off-setting reduced gold production, and we expect this trend to continue moving forwards. We reported full year copper production for 2016 of 1,941 tonnes, a 100 per cent. increase on the previous year. Silver production also increased 477 per cent. to 165,131 ounces. Production of both copper and silver was significantly increased by our flotation plant, which had its first full year of production in 2016. It produced 6,339 dry metric tonnes of concentrate containing 1,121 tonnes of copper, 4,430 ounces of gold and 122,965 ounces of silver during 2016. Gold production totalled 65,394 ounces at an average all in sustaining cost of $616 per ounce and was sold at an average sales price of $1,253 per ounce - clearly demonstrating our now very healthy production margin.
"These excellent financial and production results reflect the ongoing success of our long-term plan of sustainability and cost reduction. Key components of this strategy for the current year are the extensive exploration and production optimisation of the main open pit and the Gadir underground mines and the start of production of the newly discovered Ugur gold ore body. We are also testing a new configuration of the flotation and agitation leaching plants to give us added flexibility in processing. We have extensive stockpiles of ore which can now be processed whilst mining is temporarily paused during exploration and production optimisation. With this in mind, we have declared a production target for FY 2017 of between 64,000 gold equivalent ounces (GEOs) and 72,000 GEOs, which is a modest reduction on last year's production of 72,304 GEOs during this important phase of exploration and optimisation.
"Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our shareholders for their continued support throughout the past year and to express our optimism for the rest of 2017 and into 2018."
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit www.angloasianmining.com or 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 | SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Broker | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470 |
Soltan Tagiev | SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP | Tel + 44 (0) 20 3470 0470 |
Lottie Brocklehurst | St Brides Partners Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
Susie Geliher | St Brides Partners Ltd | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
Notes:
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 has a 1,962 square kilometre portfolio, assembled from analysis of historic Soviet geological data and held under a Production Sharing Agreement modelled on the Azeri oil industry.
The Company developed Azerbaijan's first operating gold/copper/silver mine, Gedabek, which commenced gold production in May 2009. Gedabek is an open cast mine with a series of interconnected pits. The Company also operates the high grade Gadir underground mine which is co-located at the Gedabek site. The Company has a second underground mine, Gosha, which is 50 kilometres from Gedabek. Ore mined at Gosha is processed at Anglo Asian's Gedabek plant.
Gold production for the year ended 31 December 2016 from Gedabek totalled 65,394 ounces with 1,941 tonnes of copper also produced. Gedabek is a polymetallic deposit and its ore has a high copper content, and as a result the Company produces copper concentrate from its Sulphidisation, Acidification, Recycling, and Thickening (SART) plant. Anglo Asian also produces a copper and precious metal concentrate from its flotation plant, which is processing tailings from the agitation leach plant.
Anglo Asian is also actively seeking to exploit its first mover advantage in Azerbaijan to identify additional projects, as well as looking for other properties in order to fulfil its expansion ambitions and become a mid-tier gold and copper metal production company.