RNS Number : 1510Q
Anglo Asian Mining PLC
16 October 2023

16 October 2023

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Q3 and 9M 2023 Production and Operations review

Gedabek set to fully resume operations following environmental inspection

Gross cash of $10.8 million (net cash of $1.6 million) at 30 September 2023

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM-listed gold, copper and silver producer operating in Azerbaijan, provides a production, sales and operations review for the three and nine months to 30 September 2023 ("Q3 2023" and "9M 2023" respectively).

Operational update

· Flotation processing and agitation leaching have been suspended since the beginning of August 2023

o Heap leaching continued throughout Q3 2023

o Environmental report by Micon International Co Limited ("Micon") released in September 2023, showing no environmental contamination at Gedabek

o Formal protocol to restart operations now being agreed with the Government of Azerbaijan

· Extensive plant maintenance carried out during Q3 2023

Production update

· Q3 2023 production of 5,295 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") (Q3 2022: 14,309 GEOs)

· 9M 2023 total production of 28,686 GEOs (9M 2022: 43,081 GEOs)

· Updated Full Year 2023 ("FY 2023") production guidance of 30,000 to 34,000 GEOs issued with the interim results

o Assumes no flotation and agitation leaching production for the rest of 2023

o Guidance will be updated if flotation and agitation production is restarted before the end of the year

Cash and inventory update

· Net cash of $1.6 million at 30 September 2023 (30 June 2023: $9.6 million) with the following payments made in Q3 2023

o $4.6 million payment of final dividend for 2022

· Gross cash of $10.8 million at 30 September 2023

o $3.5 million loan drawn down from International Bank of Azerbaijan in early July 2023

o $5.7 million loan drawn down from Access Bank in August 2023

· $10 million tranche drawn down from the International Bank of Azerbaijan under the Company's revolving credit facility in early October 2023

· The Company had inventory at market value of $7.0 million at 30 September 2023 (gold and silver bullion of $5.9 million and copper concentrate of $1.1 million)

· 1,000 ounces of gold bullion sold in Q3 2023 at an average price of $1,959 per ounce under the gold hedging programmes yielding additional sales revenue of $27,075

o Total gold bullion sales in Q3 2023 of 2,900 ounces at an average of $1,949 per ounce

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri commented:

"This was a challenging quarter for the Company with operations impacted by the environmental inspection that was ordered by the Government of Azerbaijan. Our focus was to fully cooperate with the government and ensure the environmental inspection was carried out properly.

The inspection's findings highlighted areas for improvement regarding Company response systems, resources and protocols. We are now working with the government to ensure these issues are very quickly addressed. Nevertheless, we were pleased that allegations of environmental contamination were proved to be without merit with the report recognising the Company operates within accepted high industry standards and guidelines. We look forward to updating the market in due course regarding the resumption of agitation leaching and flotation processing at Gedabek and progress against our stated growth strategy."

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

Adam Cowl

SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP

Nominated Adviser and Broker

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470

Charlie Jack

Harry Griffiths

Hudson Sandler

Tel: +44(0) 20 7796 4133

Notes:

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 17.4 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/

Production overview

Q3 2023

· Total production of 5,295 GEOs (Q3 2022: 14,309 GEOs)

· Gold production of 4,163 ounces (Q3 2022: 11,087 ounces):

o 4,008 ounces contained within gold doré

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

o 151 ounces from flotation processing

· Copper production totalled 251 tonnes (Q3 2022: 609 tonnes):

o 44 tonnes from SART processing

o 207 tonnes from flotation processing

· Silver production totalled 5,696 ounces (Q3 2022: 45,063 ounces):

o 1,490 ounces contained within gold doré

o 2,232 ounces from SART processing

o 1,974 ounces from flotation processing

9M 2023

· Total production of 28,686 GEOs (9M 2022: 43,081 GEOs)

· Gold production of 18,771 ounces (9M 2022: 31,993 ounces)

· Copper production totalled 2,111 tonnes (9M 2022: 1,892 tonnes)

· Silver production totalled 50,272 ounces (9M 2022: 144,562 ounces)

Sales

· Q3 2023 gold bullion sales of 2,900 ounces at an average of $1,949 per ounce (Q3 2022: 10,000 ounces sold at an average of $1,727 per ounce)

· Q3 2023 copper concentrate shipments totalled 2,358 dry metric tonnes ("dmt") with a sales value of $3.1 million (excluding Government of Azerbaijan profit share) (Q3 2022: 1,718 dmt with a sales value of $3.4 million)

Company financials

· The Company had net cash of $1.6 million at 30 September 2023 ($9.6 million at 30 June 2023). The Company made the following payments in Q3 2022

o Final dividend for 2022: $4.6 million

Gedabek - mining, detailed production and sales

The Company mined the following amounts and grades of ore in the nine months to 30 September 2023:


6 months to

30 June 2023

3 months to

30 September 2023

9 months to

30 September 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

1,006,483

0.35

72,819

0.32

1,079,302

0.35

Gadir - u/g

85,201

1.59

8,424

2.34

93,625

1.65

Total

1,091,684

0.45

81,243

0.53

1,172,927

0.45

* There have been some minor changes to the previously reported figures following the reconciliation of ore stockpiles.

The Company processed the following amounts and grades of ore by leaching for FY 2022 and Q1 to Q3 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

-

* includes previously heap leached ore.

The Company processed the following amounts of ore and contained metal by flotation for FY 2022 and Q1 to Q3 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

The following table summarises gold doré production and sales at Gedabek for FY 2022 and Q1 to Q3 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

4,008

1,490

2,900

1,949

Notes




* 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 Q1 to Q3 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

30 Sept 2023

-

4,008

4,008

-

1,490

1,490

The following table summarises copper concentrate production from both the Company's SART and flotation plants at Gedabek for FY 2022 and Q1 to Q3 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

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

Quarter ended 30 September

SART processing

85

44

4

2,232

Flotation

1,316

207

151

1,974

Total

1,401

251

155

4,206

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 Q1 to Q3 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

30 September 2023

1,401

251

155

4,206

2,358

3,066

Notes

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share

**ENDS**

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