Azerbaijan plans to increase gold production in 2016
By Fatma Babayeva
Anglo-Asian Mining (AAM), a company involved in the extraction of the precious metals in Azerbaijan will increase gold production during 2016.
The company plans to produce 73-77,000 ounces of gold in Azerbaijan during 2016 compared to 72,000 ounces of gold produced in 2015, the company announced.
The company produced 14,172 ounces of gold during the first quarter of 2016, including 13, 383 ounces from the doré (gold-silver alloy).
The AAM produced 17,930 ounces of gold during the fourth quarter of 2015. Following the record levels of gold production in 2015, unfortunately, the pace of production has slowed down during the first quarter of 2016.
Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri, commenting on the decrease, said that ordinarily, the first quarter of the year has always had lower production due to the difficult winter weather conditions.
“However, the harder rock that has been encountered together with its lower grade has also further lowered production compared to the previous quarter. To combat this harder rock, we have contracted for a second SAG mill to be installed in the agitation leach plant and we expect the SAG mill to be operational in Q3 2016,” Vaziri said.
Anglo Asian Mining PLC company has the rights to develop six fields in southwest Azerbaijan based on the PSA agreement signed with the Azerbaijani government in August 1997. These fields are Gadabek, Ordubad, Gosha Bulag, Kyzyl Bulag, Vejnali and Soyutlu.
Gold produced at the field is sent to Switzerland for treatment. Ingots are delivered to Azerbaijan and stored in the Government’s account.
Meanwhile, during the first quarter of 2016 the copper production amounted to 432 tons, which is 29 percent increase compared to the fourth quarter of 2015.
The copper production target for 2016 is between 1,700 tonnes and 2,100 tonnes, comprising between 700 tonnes to 800 tonnes from SART processing and between 1,000 tonnes to 1,300 tonnes from flotation
AAM and the Swiss Industrial Minerals SA Group signed a three-year agreement in May 2014 for the sale of copper concentrate produced at the Gadabay field. In March 2016, the second contract was signed on the sale of copper concentrate produced at the flotation plant which will be effective till the end of 2018.
The silver production for Q1 2016 totalled 34,342 ounces with 1,958 ounces contained within gold doré, 7,789 ounces from SART processing and 24,595 ounces from flotation.
Anglo Asian Mining (AAM) is a gold, copper and silver producer in Central Asia with a portfolio of exploration and production assets in Azerbaijan. The company carries out operations in three contract areas spread to 1 962 square kilometer area.
Being a leading company extracting precious metals in Azerbaijan, the company developed Azerbaijan's first operating gold, copper and silver mine in Gedabek that commissioned gold production in May 2009.
Gedabek is a polymetallic deposit where the AAM Company produces gold, copper and silver from underground Gadir mine via open pit mining operations. The company also processes ore from its Gosha deposit, approximately 50 kilometers away from Gedabek.
In addition, the aggregate potential of all fields available in Azerbaijan is estimated at about 1, 500-2 ,000 tons of pure gold.
Azerbaijan has increased its gold production and accelerated the exploration of new deposits during last years.
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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva
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