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Q2 & H1 2024 Production and Operations Review

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Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM listed gold, copper and silver producer focused in Azerbaijan, provides the following production, sales and operational review for the three months to 30 June 2024 ("Q2 2024"or the "Quarter") and six months to 30 June 2024 ("H1 2024" or the "Half Year").

The Company expects the administrative formalities relating to the tailings dam wall raise to be completed imminently, while production during the Half Year continued to be significantly reduced due to operations remaining partially shut down. Gold production from heap leaching and copper production from SART continued throughout the Half Year.

Operational highlights

  • All technical and environmental approvals now received for the raise of the tailings dam wall
  • AzerGold CJSC has now become the party to the Group's production sharing agreement ("PSA")
  • $5 million prepayment advance for concentrate sales agreed with Trafigura with $3 million received in June

Q2 and H1 2024 Production update

  • Total Q2 2024 production of 2,707 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") (Q2 2023: 12,422 GEOs)

o Copper production of 46 tonnes (Q2 2023: 1,014 tonnes)

o Gold production of 2,438 ounces (Q2 2023: 7,870 ounces)

o Silver production of 6,341 ounces (Q2 2023: 22,010 ounces)

  • Total H1 2024 production of 5,270 GEOs (H1 2023: 23,391 GEOs)

o Copper production of 100 tonnes (H1 2023: 1,870 tonnes)

o Gold production of 4,704 ounces (H1 2023: 14,623 ounces)

o Silver production of 12,740 ounces (H1 2023: 44,696 ounces)

H1 2024 Sales and cash update

  • Total gold bullion sales of 6,000 ounces at an average of $2,174 per ounce (H1 2023: 10,506 ounces at an average of $1,939 per ounce)
  • The Group has maintained a strong focus on cash and strict cost control, with a net debt position of $12.1 million at 30 June 2024 (31 December 2023: $10.2 million)
  • Net cash outflow (before receipt of advance from Trafigura) in the Half Year of only $4.9 million due to sale of opening inventory along with strong cost control. Net cash outflow including offset of the advance from Trafigura of $3.0 million of $1.9 million
  • Inventory valued at $3.6 million at 30 June 2024 (31 March 2024: 1,550 ounces of gold valued at $3.5 million and copper concentrate valued at $0.7 million)

The Company expects to issue annual production guidance for 2024 in due course, following the resumption of full production.

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri commented:

"Despite the ongoing challenges faced by the Company, I am pleased with the substantial progress we have made, including amendments to our PSA and delivering all necessary technical and environmental approvals for the tailings dam wall raise, a critical step towards resuming full production of our operations.

"We expect to conclude all formalities imminently, enabling us to fully capitalise on the current robust metal prices to the benefit of our shareholders. We look forward to returning to normal operations and production shortly, and providing production guidance for the year."

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

Q2 2024 Production overview

Gold production of 2,438 ounces (Q2 2023: 7,870 ounces):

o 2,433 ounces contained within gold doré

o 5 ounces from sulphidisation, acidification, recycling and thickening ("SART") processing

  • Copper production of 46 tonnes (Q2 2023: 1,014 tonnes) from SART processing
  • Silver production totalled 6,341 ounces (Q2 2023: 22,010 ounces):

o 1,532 ounces contained within gold doré

o 4,809 ounces from SART processing

Q2 2024 Sales overview

  • Total gold bullion sales of 2,075 ounces at an average of $2,350 per ounce (Q2 2023: 4,787 ounces at an average of $1,992 per ounce)
  • Total concentrate sales of 260 dry metric tonnes ("dmt") with a value of $1.0 million (Q2 2023: 5,501 dmt with a value of $7.7 million)

Q2 2024 Financials overview

  • Cash of $7.8 million ($9.8 million at 31 March 2024) including restricted cash
  • Debt of $19.9 million ($20.7 million at 31 March 2024)
  • Net debt of $12.1 million ($10.9 million at 31 March 2024)
  • $3 million advance payment received from Trafigura in June 2024
  • Unsold gold doré and copper concentrate inventory of $3.6 million at 30 June 2024

The Company mined the following ore during FY 2023 and the six months to 30 June 2024:

12 months to 31 December 20233 months to 31 March 20243 months to 30 June 2024
MineOre minedAverage gold gradeOre minedAverage gold gradeOre minedAverage gold grade
(tonnes)(g/t)(tonnes)(g/t)(tonnes)(g/t)
Open pit1,180,6950.38186,1220.81101,1990.74
Gadir - u/g109,3201.6450,9642.1843,3261.33
Gedabek - u/g------
Total1,290,0150.49237,0861.10144,5250.92

The Company processed the following amounts and grades of ore by leaching for FY 2023 and the six months to 30 June 2024:

Quarter endedOre processedGold 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 202394,518196,59562,0060.740.491.30
30 June 202356,522202,788105,2130.750.461.40
30 September 202325,69034,621-0.830.45-
31 December 2023------
FY 2023176,730434,004167,2190.760.481.40
31 March 2024120,528--0.68--
30 June 202432,441--0.59--
H1 2024152,969--0.66--

* includes previously heap leached ore.

The Company processed the following amounts of ore and contained metal by flotation for FY 2023 and the six months ended 30 June 2024:

Quarter endedOre processedGold contentSilver contentCopper content
(tonnes)(ounces)(ounces)(tonnes)
31 March 2023192,5161,48719,7871,133
30 June 2023190,5931,03310,3801,191
30 September 202362,3694784,358363
31 December 2023----
FY 2023445,4782,99834,5252,687
31 March 2024----
30 June 2024----
H1 2024----

The following table summarises gold doré production and sales at Gedabek for FY 2023 and the six months 30 June 2024:

Quarter endedGold produced* (ounces)Silver produced* (ounces)Gold sales** (ounces)Gold Sales price ($/ounce)
31 March 20235,9652,8415,7191,895
30 June 20237,3753,5934,7871,992
30 September 20234,0011,4882,9001,949
31 December 20232,9751,6102,4162,004
FY 202320,3169,53215,8221,951
31 March 20242,2591,5123,9252,080
30 June 20242,4331,5322,0752,350
H1 20244,6923,0446,0002,174

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 2023 and the six months 30 June 2024 is as follows:

Quarter endedGoldSilver
Agitation leaching (ounces)Heap leaching (ounces)Total (ounces)Agitation leaching (ounces)Heap leaching (ounces)Total (ounces)
31 March 20232,1053,8605,9651,0771,7642,841
30 June 20233,4633,9127,3751,7351,8583,593
30 Sept 2023-4,0014,001-1,4881,488
31 Dec 2023-2,9752,975-1,6101,610
FY 20235,56814,74820,3162,8126,7209,532
31 March 2024-2,2592,259-1,5121,512
30 June 2024-2,4332,433-1,5321,532
H1 2024-4,6924,692-3,0443,044

The following table summarises copper concentrate production from both the Company's SART and flotation plants at Gedabek for FY 2023 and the six months ended 30 June 2024:

ConcentrateCopperGoldSilver
production*content*content*content*
(dmt)(tonnes)(ounces)(ounces)
2023
Quarter ended 31 March
SART processing364191268,750
Flotation4,54466576211,095
Total4,90885678819,845
Quarter ended 30 June
SART processing2721451610,316
Flotation5,6138694798,101
Total5,8851,01449518,417
Quarter ended 30 September
SART processing854342,194
Flotation1,3162071511,974
Total1,4012501554,168
Quarter ended 31 December
SART processing291841,264
Flotation----
Total291841,264
2024
Quarter ended 31 March
SART processing895474,893
Flotation----
Total895474,893
Quarter ended 30 June
SART processing774654,809
Flotation----
Total774654,809

Note

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share.

The following table summarises total copper concentrate production and sales for FY 2023 and six months to 30 June 2024. Note that sales of concentrates are initially recorded at provisional amounts until agreement of final assay:

ConcentrateCopperGoldSilverConcentrateConcentrate
production*content*content*content*sales**sales**
(dmt)(tonnes)(ounces)(ounces)(dmt)($000)
Quarter ended
31 March 20234,90885678819,8451,1472,743
30 June 20235,8851,01449518,4175,5017,678
30 September 20231,4012501554,1682,3583,066
31 December 2023291841,2642,1862,306
FY 202312,2232,1381,44243,69411,19215,793
31 March 2024895474,89371295
30 June 2024774654,8092601,002
H1 2024166100129,7023311,297

* including Government of Azerbaijan's share

** excludes Government of Azerbaijan's share

H1 2024 Financial review

The Company's net debt increased from $10.2 million at 1 January 2024 to $12.1 million at 30 June 2024 as follows:

Q1 2024Q2 2024
$m$m$m$m
1 Jan / 31 March 2024(10.2)(10.9)
Revenue8.66.0
VAT refund1.30.6
Interest income0.2
Operating costs(9.6)(9.7)
Capital expenditure(0.7)(0.8)
Debt servicing(0.5)(0.3)
Trafigura advance-3.0
Outflow in the quarter(0.7)(1.2)
31 March / 30 June 2024(10.9)(12.1)

Note the $3 million advance from Trafigura has been treated as a prepayment and not included in net debt.

Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.

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