Q4 and FY 2022 Production and Operations review

RNS Number : 7474M
Anglo Asian Mining PLC
16 January 2023
 

 

16 January 2023

 

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Q4 and FY 2022 Production and Operations review

FY 2022 production of 57,618 gold equivalent ounces at the top end of guidance

Year-end cash of $20.3 million

 

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM-listed gold, copper and silver producer primarily operating in Azerbaijan, is pleased to provide an operational and production review for the fourth quarter ("Q4 2022") and twelve months to 31 December 2022 ("FY 2022").

 

Production

· Total FY 2022 production of 57,618 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs"), at top end of the 54,000 to 58,000 GEOs guidance (FY 2021: 64,610 GEOs)

· Q4 2022 production of 14,532 GEOs (Q4 2021: 15,949 GEOs)

 

Operations

· Significant progress made at Zafar, with a number of developments including

o Portal construction commenced

o Mine design almost finalised

o Underground mining fleet and ancillary equipment ordered

· Flotation plant expansion underway, which will double the processing capacity of the existing flotation plant and provide additional operational flexibility

o Equipment ordered for an additional flotation line to produce a zinc concentrate

o This expansion forms part of the Company's increase in throughput capacity in the short and medium term

· Mine development at Gilar is well underway

o Preliminary mineral resource published, yielding very encouraging results

o Construction of an exploration / development decline into the ore body has started, while targeted surface drilling continues

· Exploration of XarXar is ramping up

o Tunnelling into the mineral zone continues

o Surface drilling continues

 

Cash and inventory

· Cash of $20.3 million at 31 December 2022 (30 September 2022: $15.3 million), with the following significant payments made during Q4 2022:

o 2022 interim dividend of $4.6 million

o Initial payment for Zafar underground mining fleet of $0.5 million

· Inventory (at market value) of $3.6 million at 31 December 2022 (gold and silver bullion of $2.5 million and copper concentrate of $1.1 million)

 

Post-year end, the Company made its third investment in Libero Copper & Gold of CAN$390,000 (US$289,00) to maintain its 19.8 per cent. shareholding.

 

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri commented: "I am very pleased to report another important quarter and year for Anglo Asian. We have made significant progress at a number of assets, namely Zafar, Gilar and XarXar, which will be critical to providing production in the near-term. The expansion of our flotation plant will also provide significant operational flexibility as we ramp up production in the medium-term.

 

Following the acquisition of three new contract areas in mid-2021, the Company has been formulating a strategy to transition into a mid-tier, copper-focused miner, accelerating our production with the intention of capitalising on the global decarbonisation agenda. This strategy is within the final stages of its development, and I look forward to updating the market on this during Q1 2023."

 

Note that all references to "$" are to United States dollars and "CAN$" are to Canadian dollars. An exchange rate of US$1 = CAN$1.35 has been used throughout.

 

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

 

Asian Mining plc (AIM:AAZ) is a gold, copper and silver producer in south-west Asia with a broad portfolio of production and exploration assets in Azerbaijan. The Company produced 57,618 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") for the year ended 31 December 2022. 

 

In December 2021, the Company undertook a private placement which acquired 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. Two further follow-on investments have been made in Libero to maintain the Company's shareholding at 19.8 per cent.

 

On 5 July 2022, the Parliament of Azerbaijan ratified amendments to the Company's Production Sharing Agreement, which granted it legal title to three additional concessions with a combined area of 882 square kilometres, including the Garadagh porphyry copper deposit, with a Soviet classified resource of over 300,000 tonnes of copper. https://www.angloasianmining.com/

Production and sales overview

 

Q4 2022 production

· Total production of 14,532 GEOs (Q4 2021: 15,949 GEOs), comprising of:

11,121 ounces of gold (Q4 2021: 11,589 ounces):

§ 10,437 ounces contained within gold doré

§ 39 ounces from sulfidisation, acidification, recycling and thickening ("SART") processing

§ 645 ounces from flotation processing

624 tonnes of copper (Q4 2021: 743 tonnes):

§ 244 tonnes from SART processing

§ 380 tonnes from flotation processing

37,378 ounces of silver (Q4 2021: 38,673 ounces):

§ 4,820 ounces contained within gold doré

§ 20,833 ounces from SART processing

§ 11,725 ounces from flotation processing

 

FY 2022 production

· Total production of 57,618 GEOs (FY 2021: 64,610 GEOs), including:

43,114 ounces of gold (FY 2021: 48,680 ounces)

2,516 tonnes of copper (FY 2021: 2,649 tonnes)

182,046 ounces of silver (FY 2021: 154,515 ounces)

 

Q4 2022 Sales

· Q4 2022 gold bullion sales of 13,645 ounces at an average of $1,727 per ounce (Q4 2021: 13,153 ounces sold at an average of $1,825 per ounce)

· Q4 2022 copper concentrate shipments totalled 4,606 dry metric tonnes ("dmt") with a sales value of $7.5 million (excluding Government of Azerbaijan profit share) (Q4 2021: 4,132 dmt with a sales value of $8.9 million)

 

Gedabek - mining, detailed production and sales

 

The Company mined the following amounts and grades of ore in the 12 months to 31 December 2022:

 


9 months to

30 September 2022

3 months to

31 December 2022

12 months to

 31 December 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

1,276,286

0.46

429,051

0.51

1,705,337

0.47

Gadir - u/g

100,459

1.42

36,256

1.39

136,715

1.41

Gedabek - u/g

299,866

1.33

74,049

1.18

373,915

1.30

Total

1,676,611

0.67

539,356

0.66

2,215,967

0.67

 

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

 299,762

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

 

* includes previously heap leached ore.

 

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

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

 

The following table summarises gold doré production and sales at Gedabek for FY 2021 and 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 September 2021

12,314

5,473

6,828

1,815

31 December 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

30 September 2022

10,473

6,949

10,000

1,727

31 December 2022

10,437

4,820

13,645

1,727

H2 2022

20,910

11,769

23,645

1,727

FY 2022

40,010

26,963

34,918

1,783

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 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

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

H2 2022

11,348

9,562

20,910

6,357

5,412

11,769

FY 2022

23,218

16,792

40,010

15,814

11,139

26,963

 

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

 

 

 

 

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

25,114

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

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 2022. Note that sales of concentrates are initially recorded as 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

30,449

-

-

30 June 2021

3,164

695

551

37,644

3,467

9,066

H1 2021

6,012

1,333

917

68,093

3,467

9,066

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30 September 2021

3,103

573

530

31,439

3,549

5,712

31 December 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

132,775

11,148

23,719








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

H1 2022

7,043

1,283

1,806

84,354

6,119

11,375

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

H2 2022

6,258

1,233

1,298

70,729

6,324

10,865

FY 2022

13,301

2,516

3,104

155,083

12,443

22,240

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share

 

**ENDS**

 

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