Azerbaijan-focused miner Anglo Asian Mining Plc (LON:AAZ) said its Gedabek gold, copper and silver mine was now hooked up to the national grid, which is expected to result in annual cost savings of around $2.3mln.
Chief executive Reza Vaziri told investors the group could now expand production at Gedabek, unconstrained by the availability of electrical power.
"The diesel electrical generators at site will be retired from service but kept as backup, which will de-risk the operation to power outages," he said.
The miner added it had slightly reduced its 2016 gold production target to between 67,000 and 69,000 ounces from 69,000 ounces and 71,000 ounces due to recent lower grades coming from the Gadir underground mine and the move to a different power source.
Vaziri added: "Although we are reducing our full year gold production target by 2,000 ounces, the company's recent return to profitability will be now be further enhanced by the cost savings resulting from connection to the power grid and release of power constraints on our processing."
The payback of the total cost of the electrical installation ($2.1mln) is expected in around one year.