Q4 and FY 2023 Production and Operations Review

Anglo Asian Mining PLC
15 January 2024
 

15 January 2024

 

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Q4 and FY 2023 Production and Operations Review

FY 2023 production of 31,821 gold equivalent ounces at mid-range of guidance

 

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 2023") and twelve months to 31 December 2023 ("FY 2023" or the "Period").

 

Production during the Period was significantly reduced due to operations being partially suspended as the Company and third-party contractors finalised the results of an environmental audit at its operations. An action plan was agreed with the Government of Azerbaijan on 7 November 2023, and the Company was pleased to restart mining at Gedabek in December 2023.

 

Production update

·   Total FY 2023 production of 31,821 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs"), in the mid-range of the revised guidance of 30,000 to 34,000 GEOs (FY 2022: 57,618 GEOs)

·    Q4 2023 production of 3,080 GEOs (Q4 2022: 14,532 GEOs)

 

Operational update

·    Protocol agreed with the Government of Azerbaijan to restart operations following the partial environmental shut-down in Q3 2023

o Mining from the Gedabek open pit restarted in December 2023

o Operations now being ramped up with flotation production restarting in Q2 2024

·   Production of gold doré and copper concentrate continued throughout Q4 2023 from heap leaching and SART processing

·    Caterpillar underground mining fleet for the new Gilar mine delivered to Gedabek in early December 2023

·    Gilar maiden JORC mineral resource confirmed meaningful quantities of copper and gold

o  In-situ mineral resource of 54,000 tonnes of copper, 255,000 ounces of gold and 46,000 tonnes of zinc

·    Gilar development continues with production planned to commence during Q3 2024

 

Cash and inventory update

·    Net debt of $10.3 million at 31 December 2023 (30 September 2023: net cash of $1.6 million) with the following payment made in Q4 2023

o $4.7 million to Caterpillar for the underground mining fleet and associated equipment

§ Negotiations ongoing to refinance $3.7 million of the mining fleet purchase price with vendor financing

·    Gross cash of $10.3 million at 31 December 2023

o $15.0 million drawn down from International Bank of Azerbaijan under its revolving credit facility and loan agreements

o $5.6 million loan drawn down from Access Bank in August 2023

·    The Company had inventory at market value of $7.1 million at 31 December 2023 (gold and silver bullion of $6.9 million and copper concentrate of $0.2 million)

·    1,000 ounces of gold bullion sold in Q4 2023 at an average price of $2,001 per ounce under the gold hedging programme, generating additional sales revenue of $44,000

o Total gold bullion sales in Q4 2023 of 2,416 ounces at an average of $2,004 per ounce

o 1,500 ounces of gold bullion was sold for $2,061.5 per ounce on 3 January 2024 yielding proceeds of $3.1 million

 

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri commented:

"Despite a number of challenges faced during the Period, we are pleased to announce production within our previously revised guidance range.

"In November, we were pleased to agree a protocol with the Government of Azerbaijan to restart our operations, and mining at our flagship Gedabek mine recommenced in December. We continue to make meaningful progress in restarting flotation production, which is on-track to begin from Q2 2024.

"The completion of a maiden JORC mineral resource for Gilar marked a milestone for the Company, confirming our internal estimates regarding the asset's potential and its ability to meaningfully contribute to our production portfolio in the years ahead. We were also pleased to announce the delivery of a new state-of-the-art underground mining fleet for Gilar from Caterpillar, the first deployment of this type of equipment in Azerbaijan.

"Looking ahead to 2024, we will continue to prioritise the development of our exciting asset portfolio in line with our growth strategy, while driving production from our existing mines. I look forward to updating the market on our progress in the coming months."

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

 

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 which time 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 the period 2024 to 2028 at Zafar, Gilar, Xarxar and Garadag. 

 

The Company owns approximately 13.1 per cent. of Libero Copper & Gold Corporation ("Libero"). Libero is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada and owns Mocoa in Colombia, one of the world's largest undeveloped copper-molybdenum resources. https://www.angloasianmining.com/

 

Production and sales overview

 

Q4 2023 production

·    Total production of 3,080 GEOs (Q4 2022: 14,531 GEOs), comprising of:

2,979 ounces of gold (Q4 2022: 11,121 ounces):

§ 2,975 ounces contained within gold doré

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

18 tonnes of copper (Q4 2022: 624 tonnes):

§ 18 tonnes from SART processing

2,874 ounces of silver (Q4 2022: 37,378 ounces):

§ 1,610 ounces contained within gold doré

§ 1,264 ounces from SART processing

 

FY 2023 production

·    Total production of 31,821 GEOs (FY 2022: 57,618 GEOs), including:

21,758 ounces of gold (FY 2022: 43,114 ounces)

2,138 tonnes of copper (FY 2022: 2,516 tonnes)

53,226 ounces of silver (FY 2022: 182,046 ounces)

 

Q4 2023 Sales

·    Q4 2023 gold bullion sales of 2,416 ounces at an average of $2,004 per ounce (Q4 2022: 13,645 ounces sold at an average of $1,727 per ounce)

·    Q4 2023 copper concentrate shipments totalled 2,186 dry metric tonnes ("dmt") with a sales value of $2.3 million (excluding Government of Azerbaijan profit share) (Q4 2022: 4,606 dmt with a sales value of $7.5 million)

 

Gedabek - mining, detailed production and sales

 

The Company mined the following amounts and grades of ore in the 12 months to 31 December 2023:

 


9 months to

30 September 2023

3 months to

31 December 2023

12 months to

 31 December 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

1,079,302

0.35

101,393

0.69

1,180,695

0.38

Gadir - u/g

93,625

1.65

15,695

1.58

109,320

1.64

Gedabek - u/g

-

-

-

-

-

-

Total

1,172,927

0.67

117,088

0.81

1,290,015

0.49

 

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

202,788

105,213

0.75

0.46

1.4

H1 2023

151,040

399,383

167,219

0.75

0.49

1.4

30 September 2023

25,690

34,621

-

0.83

0.45

-

31 December 2023

-

-

-

-

-

-

H2 2023

25,690

34,621

-

0.83

0.45

-

FY 2023

176,730

434,004

167,219

0.76

0.48

1.4

 

* includes previously heap leached ore

 

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

30 September 2023

62,369

478

4,358

363

31 December 2023

-

-

-

-

H2 2023

62,369

478

4,358

363

FY 2023

445,478

2,998

34,525

2,687

 

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

30 September 2023

4,001

1,488

2,900

1,949

31 December 2023

2,975

1,610

2,416

2,004

H2 2023

6,976

3,098

5,316

1,974

FY 2023

20,316

9,532

15,822

1,951

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 FY 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

11,149

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

30 Sept 2023

-

4,001

4,001

-

1,488

1,488

31 Dec 2023

-

2,975

2,975

-

1,610

1,610

H2 2023

-

6,976

6,976

-

3,098

3,098

FY 2023

5,568

14,748

20,316

2,812

6,720

9,532

 

The following table summarises copper concentrate production from both the Company's SART and flotation plants at Gedabek for FY 2022 and FY 2023:

 


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

191

26

8,750

Flotation

4,544

665

762

11,095

Total

4,908

856

788

19,845

Quarter ended 30 June

 

 

 

 

SART processing

272

145

16

10,316

Flotation

5,613

869

479

8,101

Total

5,885

1,014

495

18,417

Quarter ended 30 September

 

 

 

 

SART processing

85

43

4

2,194

Flotation

1,316

207

151

1,974

Total

1,401

250

155

4,168

Quarter ended 31 December

 

 

 

 

SART processing

29

18

4

1,264

Flotation

-

-

-

-

Total

29

18

4

1,264

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 FY 2023. 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 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 Sept 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

856

788

19,845

1,147

2,743

30 June 2023

5,885

1,014

495

18,417

5,501

7,678

H1 2023

10,793

1,870

1,283

38,262

6,648

10,421

30 Sept 2023

1,401

250

155

4,168

2,358

3,066

31 December 2023

29

18

4

1,264

2,186

2,306

H2 2023

1,430

268

159

5,432

4,544

5,372

FY 2023

12,223

2,138

1,442

43,694

11,192

15,793

Notes

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share

 

Cash and net debt at 31 December 2023

 

US$m

Cash at bank (available for use)

4.3

Restricted cash (security for borrowing)

6.0

      Total cash

10.3

IBA - credit facility: 5.5 % per annum

(5.0)

IBA - revolving credit line: 6.5 % per annum

(10.0)

Access bank: 0.5 % per month

(5.6)

      Total debt

(20.6)

Net cash / (debt)

(10.3)

 

**ENDS**

 

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