AzerGold increases iron ore reserves estimate 1.6 times at two deposits in Azerbaijan

BAKU. March 27 (Interfax) - Dashkesan Demir Filiz LLC, a subsidiary of the Azerbaijani state mining company AzerGold, has increased its estimate of iron ore reserves 1.6 times at two deposits in the Dashkesan iron ore area in western Azerbaijan.

"As a result of a revaluation of mineral resources done to modern standards, we achieved a 67.37 million tonnes increase in subsoil reserves. This means that the assessment of total reserves at the Northwest and Southeast fields has increased from 117.6 million 184.97 million tonnes," AzerGold told Interfax.

For these two fields, a 21-year mining plan has been developed jointly with UK consultant Micon International.

Currently, exploration is underway at the Dashkesan iron ore site at five deposits to extend their useful life.

The analysis which was done in order to resume production at Dashkesan was completed in 2022, AzerGold said. "The possibility of extracting iron ore at the Northwest and Southeast deposits using open-pit mining has been determined, while other deposits are accessible via underground mining. Unlike the open-pit method, underground mining is a more complex and lengthy process. So, at the first stage, in order to get faster results, work began on the Northwest and Southeast fields," the company said.

The Dashkesan iron ore site was mined intensively from 1954 to 1994, during which 92 million tonnes of ore were mined. From 1994 to 1997, partial operation continued, and then completely stopped.

The Dashkesan iron ore area comprises six deposits: Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest, Demirov, and Derdere.

In 2020, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an order on measures to develop iron ore in Dashkesan. The license for the development of Dashkesan is held by Dashkesan Demir Filiz.

State-owned AzerGold was established in 2015. The company is engaged in the exploration and development of gold and iron ore deposits in the Garadag, Chovdar, Heydag, Dagkesemen, and Kohnemeden areas, the Kuryakchay basin and a number of other locations.