Production from Azerbaijan-focused Anglo Asian Mining’s Gedabek gold, copper and silver mine is continuing on an upward trajectory, instilling confidence that the full-year guidance of 78 000 oz to 84 000 oz of gold equivalent will be achieved.
The Gedabek mine produced 19 042 oz of gold equivalent in the June quarter, which is a 4% quarter-on-quarter increase and a 19% year-on-year improvement. Half-year production rose by 22% to 37 349 oz of gold equivalent.
"Thanks to the successful completion of several initiatives, both operational and financial, Anglo Asian has delivered excellent performance in both the second quarter and first half of 2018. Our production from Gedabek continues on its upward trajectory with a 22% year-on-year increase in total production measured as gold equivalent ounces for the first half and we expect to see increased copper production this current quarter now the second crusher line is operating,” said Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri.
The increase in production boosted the miner’s financial performance, with net debt having reduced by $7.5-million to $2.9-million. Anglo Asian has also repaid all the group's outstanding borrowings in early July, save for the Pasha Bank refinancing loan which bears interest at a fixed 7% - a rate that is considerably lower than Anglo Asian's recent average cost of borrowing.
"Our operations are moving up a gear with the new Ugur mine and second crusher line adding significantly to our production capacity and, I believe, we are well placed to meet our full-year 2018 production target,” commented Vaziri.