Gold producer to up output at Azerbaijani deposit this year
By Nigar Orujova
Anglo Asian Mining, a UK-based company extracting precious metals in resource-rich Azerbaijan, expects a 20 percent increase in gold production at the Gedabey mine in 2013.
The growth will be possible after the commissioning of the vat leaching plant, which is planned in the first half of 2013, the company said.
The new plant, which is designed to process 100 tons of ore per hour, will process ore and resources not suitable for heap leaching - a method of obtaining gold from ore that is currently in use in the field. Vat leaching technology allows extraction of more than 90 percent of gold contained in treated ore, compared to about 70 percent obtained through heap leaching.
According to preliminary estimates, gold recovery at the plant is expected to reach 85 percent in oxide ore and 69 percent in sulfide ore. Moreover, the company continues conducting tests geared towards improvement of these indices.
Anglo Asian Mining has the rights to develop six deposits in the south-west of Azerbaijan -- Gedabey, Ordubad, Gosha Bulag, Gyzyl Bulag, Vezhnali and Soyutlu, based on a production sharing agreement signed in August 1997 with Azerbaijan's government.
Under the agreement, it is planned to produce about 400 tons of gold, 2,500 tons of silver and 1.5 million tons of cooper. The company has owned its largest Gedabey gold deposit since 2009.
Anglo-Asian Mining extracted 50,215 ounces of gold, 20,133 ounces of silver and 502 tons of copper at the Gedabey mine in 2012. The company plans to bring the production volume up to 60,000 ounces of gold in 2013.
In 2012, Anglo Asian Mining President Reza Vaziri announced that the company aims to double gold production in the country by 2015.
Due to the very cold winter, production figures are lower than planned, Vaziri said then, adding that with the new plant's launching in 2013 Anglo Asian Mining plans to boost production at the Gedabey deposit to 67,000-70,000 ounces of gold.
Anglo Asian Mining plc is a cash generative and profitable gold and copper mining and exploration company, which started gold and silver production in May 2009 and copper concentrate production in 2010 at the Gedabey mine, which is located in northwestern Azerbaijan.