Last checked at 13 Jul 2023 07:00
13 July 2023
Anglo Asian Mining plc
Q2 & H1 2023 Production and Operations Review
Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM listed gold, copper and silver producer focused in Azerbaijan, is pleased to provide a production, sales and operational review for the three months to 30 June 2023 ("Q2 2023") and six months to 30 June 2023 ("H1 2023").
Operational highlights
· | The Company announced its strategic growth plan, that outlined its 4 year transition to mid-tier production status with copper as its principal product |
· | The Company retains its production target of 50,000 to 54,000 gold equivalent ounces for 2023 and continues to successfully execute its growth strategy |
H1 2023 and Q2 2023 Production update
· | Total production of 23,391 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") in H1 2023 (H1 2022: 28,722 GEOs) and 12,422 GEOs in Q2 2023 calculated using actual metal prices |
· | Copper production increased to 1,860 tonnes in H1 2023 (H1 2022: 1,283 tonnes) and rose by 42 per cent. year-on-year in Q2 2023 to 1,013 tonnes (Q2 2022: 715 tonnes) as part of the Company's growth strategy to increase its copper production o Ore processed by the expanded flotation plant in Q2 2023 increased to 190,593 tonnes (Q2 2022: 114,099 tonnes) |
· | Gold production of 14,608 ounces during H1 2023 (H1 2022: 20,906 ounces) and 7,867 ounces in Q2 2023 (Q2 2022: 10,866 ounces) due to decreasing grades at Gedabek o Agitation leaching plant idle from 2 May to 30 May as ore now processed on a campaign basis |
· | Silver production totalled 44,576 ounces in H1 2023 (H1 2022: 99,548 ounces) and 22,010 ounces in Q2 2023 (Q2 2022: 48,874 ounces) |
Q2 2023 Sales and cash update
· | Cash of $9.4 million at 30 June 2023 (31 March 2023: $10.7 million), with inventory valued at $8.9 millionconsisting of 2,366 ounces of gold valued at $4.5 million and copper concentrate valued at $4.4 million |
· | The Company completed the sale of 1,000 ounces of gold bullion on 30 June 2023 at $1,947.5 per ounce under the Company's hedging programme, compared to the LBMA PM price of $1,912.25 generating additional revenue of $35,250 |
Reza Vaziri, President and Chief Executive Officer of Anglo Asian, commented:
"During the first half of this year, we were delighted to announce our strategic growth plan, which will see Anglo Asian reach its operational potential in becoming a producer of circa 36,000 tonnes of copper equivalent by 2028. This is underpinned by the three new contract areas acquired during 2022 and our enhanced strategic focus on copper. The execution of this plan is progressing well, with a number of our assets achieving developmental milestones during the first half of 2023. In particular, Gilar is still on track to begin production in the fourth quarter of the year."
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure
Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, which was incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, until the release of this announcement.
For further information please contact:
Anglo Asian Mining plc | |
Reza Vaziri, Chief Executive Officer | Tel: +994 12 596 3350 |
Bill Morgan, Chief Financial Officer | Tel: +994 502 910 400 |
Stephen Westhead, Vice President | Tel: +994 502 916 894 |
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP (Nominated Adviser and Broker) Ewan Leggat Adam Cowl | Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470 |
Hudson Sandler (Financial PR) Charlie Jack Harry Griffiths
| Tel: +44 (0) 20 7796 4133
|
Notes to editors
Anglo Asian Mining plc (AIM:AAZ) is a gold, copper and silver producer with a high-quality portfolio of production and exploration assets in Azerbaijan. The Company produced 57,618 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") for the year ended 31 December 2022.
On 30 March 2023, the Company published its strategic plan for growth which shows a clearly defined path for the Company to transition to a multi-asset, mid-tier copper and gold producer by 2028. By 2028, copper will be the principal product of the Company, with forecast production of around 36,000 copper equivalent tonnes. It plans to achieve this growth by bringing into production four new mines during 2023 to 2028 at Zafar, Gilar, Xarxar and Garadag.
The Company owns approximately 19.8 per cent. of Libero Copper & Gold Corporation ("Libero"). Libero is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada and owns, or has the option to acquire, several copper exploration properties in North and South America, including Mocoa in Colombia, one of the world's largest undeveloped copper-molybdenum resources.
https://www.angloasianmining.com/
Q2 2023 Production overview
· | Gold production of 7,867 ounces (Q2 2022: 10,866 ounces): o 7,375 ounces contained within gold doré o 16 ounces from sulphidisation, acidification, recycling and thickening ("SART") processing o 476 ounces from flotation |
· | Copper production of 1,013 tonnes (Q2 2022: 715 tonnes): o 146 tonnes from SART processing o 867 tonnes from flotation processing e |
· | Silver production totalled 22,010 ounces (Q2 2022: 48,874 ounces): o 3,593 ounces contained within gold doré o 10,348 ounces from SART processing o 8,069 ounces from flotation |
Q2 2023 Sales overview
· | Total gold bullion sales of 4,787 ounces at an average of $1,992 per ounce (Q2 2022: 3,754 ounces at an average of $1,895 per ounce) |
· | The 4,787 ounces of gold sold include 1,000 ounces sold on 30 June 2023 under the Company's hedge programme for $1,947.50 per ounce when the LBMA PM gold price was $1,912.25 |
· | Total concentrate sales of 5,501 dry metric tonnes ("dmt") with a value of $7.7 million (Q2 2022: 4,642 dmt with a value of $8.1 million) |
Q2 2023 Financial overview
· | Cash of $9.4 million ($10.7 million at 31 March 2023) |
· | Unsold gold doré and copper concentrate inventory of $8.9 million |
Q1 2023 Operations review
The Company mined the following ore during FY 2022 and the six months to 30 June 2023:
12 months to 31 December 2022 | 3 months to 31 March 2023 | 3 months to 30 June 2023 | ||||
Mine | Ore mined | Average gold grade | Ore mined | Average gold grade | Ore mined | Average gold grade |
| (tonnes) | (g/t) | (tonnes) | (g/t) | (tonnes) | (g/t) |
Open pit | 1,705,337 | 0.47 | 415,365 | 0.43 | 591,118 | 0.30 |
Gadir - u/g | 136,715 | 1.41 | 38,867 | 1.64 | 46,334 | 1.54 |
Gedabek - u/g | 373,915 | 1.30 | - | - | - | - |
Total | 2,215,967 | 0.67 | 454,232 | 0.53 | 637,452 | 0.39 |
The Company processed the following amounts and grades of ore by leaching for FY 2022 and the six months to 30 June 2023:
Quarter ended | Ore processed | Gold grade of ore processed | ||||
Heap leach pad crushed ore (tonnes) | Heap leach pad ROM ore (tonnes) | Agitation leaching plant* (tonnes) | Heap leach pad crushed ore (g/t) | Heap leach pad ROM ore (g/t) | Agitation leaching plant* (g/t) | |
31 March 2022 | 115,173 | 273,577 | 144,275 | 0.75 | 0.48 | 1.63 |
30 June 2022 | 82,814 | 299,762 | 162,239 | 0.78 | 0.53 | 1.40 |
30 September 2022 | 92,398 | 302,714 | 162,669 | 0.81 | 0.57 | 1.42 |
31 December 2022 | 24,606 | 213,120 | 156,285 | 0.72 | 0.56 | 1.42 |
FY 2022 | 314,991 | 1,089,173 | 625,468 | 0.77 | 0.56 | 1.43 |
31 March 2023 | 94,518 | 196,595 | 62,006 | 0.74 | 0.49 | 1.3 |
30 June 2023 | 56,522 | 203,016 | 105,213 | 0.75 | 0.46 | 1.4 |
H1 2023 | 151,040 | 399,611 | 167,219 | 0.75 | 0.49 | 1.4 |
* includes previously heap leached ore.
The Company processed the following amounts of ore and contained metal by flotation for FY 2022 and the six months ended 30 June 2023:
Quarter ended | Ore processed | Gold content | Silver content | Copper content |
| (tonnes) | (ounces) | (ounces) | (tonnes) |
31 March 2022 | 104,475 | 1,921 | 33,522 | 577 |
30 June 2022 | 114,099 | 1,293 | 24,209 | 745 |
30 September 2022 | 143,838 | 1,314 | 24,582 | 724 |
31 December 2022 | 119,819 | 1,389 | 18,003 | 670 |
FY 2022 | 482,231 | 5,917 | 100,316 | 2,716 |
31 March 2023 | 192,516 | 1,487 | 19,787 | 1,133 |
30 June 2023 | 190,593 | 1,033 | 10,380 | 1,191 |
H1 2023 | 383,109 | 2,520 | 30,167 | 2,324 |
The following table summarises gold doré production and sales at Gedabek for FY 2022 and six months ended 30 June 2023:
Quarter ended | Gold produced* (ounces) | Silver produced* (ounces) | Gold sales** (ounces) | Gold Sales price ($/ounce) |
31 March 2022 | 8,963 | 7,574 | 7,519 | 1,904 |
30 June 2022 | 10,137 | 7,620 | 3,754 | 1,895 |
30 September 2022 | 10,473 | 6,949 | 10,000 | 1,727 |
31 December 2022 | 10,437 | 4,820 | 13,645 | 1,727 |
FY 2022 | 40,010 | 26,963 | 34,918 | 1,783 |
31 March 2023 | 5,965 | 2,841 | 5,719 | 1,895 |
30 June 2023 | 7,375 | 3,593 | 4,787 | 1,992 |
H1 2023 | 13,340 | 6,434 | 10,506 | 1,939 |
Note
* including Government of Azerbaijan's share
** excluding Government of Azerbaijan's share
The gold and silver production from agitation and heap leaching for FY 2022 and the six months ended 30 June 2023 is as follows:
Quarter ended | Gold | Silver | ||||
Agitation leaching (ounces) | Heap leaching (ounces) | Total
(ounces) | Agitation leaching (ounces) | Heap leaching (ounces) | Total
(ounces) | |
31 March 2022 | 5,674 | 3,289 | 8,963 | 4,803 | 2,771 | 7,574 |
30 June 2022 | 6,196 | 3,941 | 10,137 | 4,654 | 2,966 | 7,620 |
30 Sept 2022 | 5,517 | 4,956 | 10,473 | 3,673 | 3,276 | 6,949 |
31 Dec 2022 | 5,831 | 4,606 | 10,437 | 2,684 | 2,136 | 4,820 |
FY 2022 | 23,218 | 16,792 | 40,010 | 15,814 | 11,139 | 26,963 |
31 March 2023 | 2,105 | 3,860 | 5,965 | 1,077 | 1,764 | 2,841 |
30 June 2023 | 3,463 | 3,912 | 7,375 | 1,735 | 1,858 | 3,593 |
H1 2023 | 5,568 | 7,772 | 13,340 | 2,812 | 3,622 | 6,434 |
The following table summarises copper concentrate production from both the Company's SART and flotation plants at Gedabek for FY 2022 and the six months ended 30 June 2023 is as follows:
Concentrate | Copper | Gold | Silver | |
| production* | content* | content* | content* |
| (dmt) | (tonnes) | (ounces) | (ounces) |
2022 |
|
|
|
|
Quarter ended 31 March |
|
|
|
|
SART processing | 330 | 188 | 12 | 25,114 |
Flotation | 2,586 | 380 | 1,065 | 17,986 |
Total | 2,916 | 568 | 1,077 | 43,100 |
Quarter ended 30 June |
|
|
|
|
SART processing | 316 | 168 | 14 | 25,582 |
Flotation | 3,811 | 547 | 715 | 15,672 |
Total | 4,127 | 715 | 729 | 41,254 |
Quarter ended 30 September |
|
|
|
|
SART processing | 367 | 208 | 33 | 24,077 |
Flotation | 2,805 | 401 | 581 | 14,094 |
Total | 3,172 | 609 | 614 | 38,171 |
Quarter ended 31 December | ||||
SART processing | 438 | 244 | 39 | 20,833 |
Flotation | 2,648 | 380 | 645 | 11,725 |
Total | 3,086 | 624 | 684 | 32,558 |
2023 |
|
|
|
|
Quarter ended 31 March |
|
|
|
|
SART processing | 364 | 190 | 25 | 8,750 |
Flotation | 4,544 | 657 | 751 | 10,975 |
Total | 4,908 | 847 | 776 | 19,725 |
Quarter ended 30 June |
|
|
|
|
SART processing | 272 | 146 | 16 | 10,348 |
Flotation | 5,613 | 867 | 476 | 8,069 |
Total | 5,885 | 1,013 | 492 | 18,417 |
Note
* including Government of Azerbaijan's share.
Certain amounts for SART and flotation production may differ to those previously disclosed due to final reconciliation of production.
The following table summarises total copper concentrate production and sales for FY 2022 and the six months ended 30 June 2023. Note that sales of concentrates are initially recorded at provisional amounts until agreement of final assay:
Concentrate | Copper | Gold | Silver | Concentrate |
Concentrate | |
| production* | content* | content* | content* | sales** | sales** |
| (dmt) | (tonnes) | (ounces) | (ounces) | (dmt) | ($000) |
Quarter ended |
|
|
|
|
|
|
31 March 2022 | 2,916 | 568 | 1,077 | 43,100 | 1,477 | 3,248 |
30 June 2022 | 4,127 | 715 | 729 | 41,254 | 4,642 | 8,127 |
30 September 2022 | 3,172 | 609 | 614 | 38,171 | 1,718 | 3,378 |
31 December 2022 | 3,086 | 624 | 684 | 32,558 | 4,606 | 7,487 |
FY 2022 | 13,301 | 2,516 | 3,104 | 155,083 | 12,443 | 22,240 |
31 March 2023 | 4,908 | 847 | 776 | 19,725 | 1,147 | 2,743 |
30 June 2023 | 5,885 | 1,013 | 492 | 18,417 | 5,501 | 7,678 |
H1 2023 | 10,793 | 1,860 | 1,268 | 38,142 | 6,648 | 10,421 |
* including Government of Azerbaijan's share
** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share