Q2 & H1 2022 Production and Operations review

RNS Number : 4124S
Anglo Asian Mining PLC
14 July 2022
 

Anglo Asian Mining plc / Ticker: AAZ / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

 

14 July 2022

 

 

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Q2 & H1 2022 Production and Operations review

Production of 15,052 gold equivalent ounces in Q2 2022

Parliamentary ratification granted for three new Contract Areas

 

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 operations review for the three months to 30 June 2022 ("Q2 2022") and six months to 30 June 2022 ("H1 2022").

 

Note that all references to "$" are to United States dollars.

 

Operational update

· On 5 July 2022, amendments to the Company's Production Sharing Agreement were signed into law granting the Company three new Contract Areas as announced on 29 September 2021

o Xarxar, Garadagh and Demirli, the three new Contract Areas, cover a combined area of 882 square kilometres

Q2 2022 Production update

· Gold production totalled 10,866 ounces (Q2 2021: 12,340 ounces)

· Copper production totalled 715 tonnes (Q2 2021: 695 tonnes)

· Silver production totalled 48,810 ounces (Q2 2021: 43,565 ounces)

· Total production of 15,052 GEOs (Q2 2021: 16,740 GEOs)

 

H1 2022 Production update

· Gold production totalled 20,906 ounces (H1 2021: 24,247 ounces)

· Copper production totalled 1,283 tonnes (H1 2021: 1,333 tonnes)

· Silver production totalled 99,499 ounces (H1 2021: 78,980 ounces)

· Total production of 28,772 GEOs (H1 2021: 32,171 GEOs)

Q2 2022 sales and cash update

· Cash of $21.1 million at 30 June 2022 (31 March 2022: $29.4 million)

· Inventory valued at $15.6 million as at 30 June 2022 (7,000 ounces of gold valued at $12.7 million and copper concentrate valued at $2.9 million)

Reza Vaziri, Chief Executive Officer of Anglo Asian, commented :

 

"We are delighted to have received Parliamentary Ratification for the new contract areas in early July, allowing our team access to the Garadagh and Xarxar sites. We are now working on our three-year production plan and to summarise our resources. The three new contract areas transform our asset base, and we are excited to begin our transition into a copper focused miner.

 

"We are also pleased to have reported solid rates of production during quarter two and the first half of 2022, with quarter two being slightly above quarter one and both generally being consistent with last year. This is despite lower grades at Gedabek due to the resource nearing the end of its life.

 

"The Company remains focused on developing Vejnaly and the Hasan vein at Gosha, both of which we anticipate entering production in H2 2022, as well as bringing the major new mine at Zafer into production in 2023."

 

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:

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

Adam Cowl

SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP

Nominated Adviser and Broker

Tel + 44 (0) 20 3470 0470

Charlie Jack

Hudson Sandler

Tel: +44(0) 20 7796 4133

 

Harry Griffiths

Hudson Sandler

Tel: +44(0) 20 7796 4133

 

 

Notes to editors:

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 produced 64,610 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") for the year ended 31 December 2021. 

 

In December 2021, the Company undertook a private placement which acquired 19.8 per cent. of Libero Copper & Gold Corporation ("Libero"). The transaction was completed in January 2022. 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.   

 

On 5 July 2022, the Government of Azerbaijan ratified amendments to its Production Sharing Agreement, granting Anglo Asian three additional concessions totalling a combined area of 882 square kilometres. This includes the Garadagh porphyry copper deposit, with a Soviet classified resource of over 300,000 tonnes of copper. The acquisition of these concessions is transformational to Anglo Asian's asset portfolio and underpins the strategic target of transitioning into a mid-tier copper focused miner.

https://www.angloasianmining.com/

 

 

Appendix

 

Q2 2022 Production Overview

· Total production of 15,052 GEOs (Q2 2021: 16,740 GEOs)

· Gold production totalled 10,866 ounces (Q2 2021: 12,340 ounces):

o 10,137 ounces contained within gold doré

o 14 ounces from SART processing

715 ounces from flotation

· Copper production totalled 715 tonnes (Q2 2021: 695 tonnes):

168 tonnes from SART processing

547 tonnes from flotation processing

· Silver production totalled 48,810 ounces (Q2 2021: 43,565 ounces):

7,620 ounces contained within gold doré

o 25,548 ounces from SART processing

o 15,642 ounces from flotation

 

H1 2022 Production Overview

· Total production of 28,772 GEOs (H1 2021: 32,171 GEOs)

· Gold production totalled 20,906 ounces (H1 2021: 24,247 ounces):

o 19,100 ounces contained within gold doré

o 26 ounces from SART processing

1,780 ounces from flotation

· Copper production totalled 1,283 tonnes (H1 2021: 1,333 tonnes):

356 tonnes from SART processing

927 tonnes from flotation processing

· Silver production totalled 99,499 ounces (H1 2021: 78,980 ounces):

15,194 ounces contained within gold doré

o 50,656 ounces from SART processing

o 33,649 ounces from flotation

 

Operations Review

The Company mined the following ore in the six months ended 30 June 2022:

 


12 months to

 31 December 2021

3 months to

31 March 2022

3 months to

30 June 2022

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

1,815,857

0.74

469,500

0.52

441,041

0.47

Gadir - u/g

115,943

1.91

30,712

1.44

36,295

1.43

Gedabek - u/g

248,792

1.42

77,937

1.60

111,827

1.25

Total

2,180,592

0.80

578,149

0.71

589,163

0.68

 

The Company processed the following amounts and grades of ore by leaching for FY 2021 and H1 2022:

 

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 2021

110,612

258,097

154,373

0.90

0.61

1.92

30 June 2021

154,619

177,369

164,288

0.81

0.59

1.64

30 September 2021

154,112

194,816

171,029

0.79

0.51

1.65

31 December 2021

113,623

309,374

151,701

0.68

0.49

1.53

FY 2021

532,966

939,656

641,391

0.80

0.54

1.68

31 March 2022

115,173

273,577

144,275

0.75

0.48

1.63

30 June 2022

82,814

 299,168

162,239

0.78

0.53

1.4

H1 2022

197,987

572,745

306,514

0.76

0.51

1.48

 

* includes previously heap leached ore.

 

The Company processed the following amounts of ore and contained metal by flotation for FY 2021 and H1 2022:

 

Quarter ended

Ore processed

Gold content

Silver content

Copper content

 

(tonnes)

(ounces)

(ounces)

(tonnes)

31 March 2021

111,060

920

15,782

652

30 June 2021

116,910

1,251

23,870

596

30 September 2021

121,283

1,231

19,939

519

31 December 2021

129,384

1,856

28,480

762

FY 2021

478,637

5,258

88,071

2,529

31 March 2022

104,475

1,921

33,522

577

30 June 2022

114,099

1,293

24,209

745

H1 2022

218,574

3,214

57,731

1,322

 

 

The following table summarises gold doré production and sales at Gedabek for FY 2021 and H1 2022:

 

Quarter ended

Gold produced*

(ounces)

Silver

produced*

(ounces)

Gold sales**

(ounces)

Gold Sales price

($/ounce)






31 March 2021

11,541

4,916

5,635

1,697

30 June 2021

11,789

5,921

13,947

1,808

H1 2021

23,330

10,837

19,582

1,776

30 Sept 2021

12,314

5,473

6,828

1,815

31 Dec 2021

10,561

5,430

13,153

1,825

H2 2021

22,875

10,903

19,981

1,821

FY 2021

46,205

21,740

39,563

1,799

31 March 2022

8,963

7,574

7,519

1,904

30 June 2022

10,137

7,620

3,754

1,895

H1 2022

19,100

15,194

11,273

1,901

Note

 

 

 

 

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excluding Government of Azerbaijan's share

 

Gold and silver production from agitation and heap leaching for H1 2022 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

H1 2022

11,870

7,230

19,100

9,457

5,737

15,194

 

The following table summarises copper concentrate production from both the Company's SART and flotation plants at Gedabek for FY 2021 and H1 2022:

 


Concentrate

Copper

Gold

Silver

 

production*

content*

content*

content*

 

(dmt)

(tonnes)

(ounces)

(ounces)

2021

 

 

 

 

Quarter ended 31 March

 

 

 

 

SART processing

473

276

13

19,850

Flotation

2,375

362

353

10,599

Total

2,848

638

366

30,449

 

 

 

 

 

Quarter ended 30 June

 

 

 

 

SART processing

512

301

12

22,428

Flotation

2,652

394

539

15,216

Total

3,164

695

551

37,644

 

 

 

 

 

Quarter ended 30 Sept

 

 

 

 

SART processing

503

265

13

19,526

Flotation

2,600

308

517

11,913

Total

3,103

573

530

31,439

 

 

 

 

 

Quarter ended 31 December

 

 

 

 

SART processing

338

193

16

16,414

Flotation

3,584

550

1,012

16,829

Total

3,922

743

1,028

33,243

 

 

 

 

 

2022

 

 

 

 

Quarter ended 31 March

 

 

 

 

SART processing

330

188

12

25,108

Flotation

2,586

380

1,065

18,007

Total

2,916

568

1,077

43,115

Quarter ended 30 June

 

 

 

 

SART processing

316

168

14

25,548

Flotation

3,811

547

715

15,642

Total

4,127

715

729

41,190

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 2021 and H1 2022. 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 2021

2,848

638

366

30,499

-

-

30 June 2021

3,164

695

551

37,644

3,467

9,066

H1 2021

6,012

1,333

917

68,143

3,467

9,066

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30 Sept 2021

3,103

573

530

31,439

3,549

5,712

31 Dec 2021

3,922

743

1,028

33,243

4,132

8,941

H2 2021

7,025

1,316

1,558

64,682

7,681

14,653

FY 2021

13,037

2,649

2,475

132,825

11,148

23,719

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

31 March 2022

2,916

568

1,077

43,115

1,477

3,248

30 June 2022

4,127

715

729

41,190

4,642

8,127

H2 2021

7,043

1,283

1,806

84,305

6,119

11,375

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share

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