Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijan International Mineral Resources Operating Company (AIMROC) plans to begin production at the Chovdar gold field in Azerbaijan’s western Dashkasan region early next year, and has announced a tender to build a plant for initial processing of gold.

Namig Ibadov, AIMROC’s head of procurement and logistics, said the plant is expected to be ready for commissioning by February 2012, with production of ore to commence immediately.

The company did not disclose projected production and refining levels, but said the volume of refined gold will considerably exceed that at the Gadabay plant. It was referring to the plant run in the Gadabay region by Anglo Asian Mining PLC, the first producer of gold in the country.

The new plant in the Dashkasan region will have the capacity to process 3,000 tons of soil per day.

A production sharing agreement on developing Chovdar and four other gold deposits was signed by the Azerbaijani government in late 2006 with Londex Resources, Willy & Meyris, Fargate Mining Corporation, Globex International LLP, and Mindeco.

Besides Chovdar, Azerbaijan has other major gold fields in the Nakhchivan autonomous republic, the Tovuz and Gadabay regions as well as three regions that are currently under Armenian occupation. The fields hold about 400 tons of gold, 2,500 tons of silver and 1.5 million tons of copper.