Anglo Asian Mining PLC expects to produce 54,000 to 58,000 gold equivalent ounces (GEOs) in 2022, the Azerbaijan-focused company said alongside its first-half results.
The copper, gold, and silver miner produced 28,772 GEOs in the first half, down from 32,171 ounces in the year-earlier period, due to lower gold grades from its Gedabek operation.
Anglo Asian said it has made good progress at its Vejnaly and Gosha licences and that production from these areas should result in output at the upper end of the guidance range.
Total costs were steady as higher electricity and material costs were offset by lower cyanide usage, but lower output resulted in a 16% year-on-year increase in the all-in-sustaining cost of gold production to US$983 an ounce.
Pretax profit for the six months to end-June 2022 dipped to US$5.7mln from US$5.9mln as revenue fell 27.6% to US$31.5mln on lower gold doré sales.
The group said it achieved encouraging progress amid a difficult external environment.
“We made significant progress in the development of our portfolio with excellent progress made at Zafar, Vejnaly and Hasan, all of which will enter production in the next 3 to 12 months,” said Anglo Asian chief executive Reza Vaziri in the results statement. “This will ease our reliance on production from Gedabek as they are set to produce meaningful quantities of ore next year.”
The AIM-traded company said it plans to pay an interim dividend of 4 US cents per share.
Since the period end, the company’s revised production sharing agreement became law in Azerbaijan, granting the group three new contract areas.
“This is an exciting time for Anglo Asian Mining, with the acquisition of our three new contract areas,” said Vaziri “These will transform our business and are substantial drivers for growth”, Pro Active Investors writes.
