Anglo Asian postpones gold mining at the Gilar deposit in Azerbaijan until Q3 2024

BAKU. Dec 12 (Interfax) - Anglo Asian Mining plc, which has a portfolio of gold deposits in Azerbaijan, has again postponed the start of production at the Gilar gold and copper deposit, this time until the third quarter of 2024, the company said in its materials.

The company had planned to start mining Gilar before the end of 2023, but then put this back until the first quarter of 2024.

AAM also said it had completed a maiden JORC-compliant mineral resource study for the Gilar deposit. The in-situ mineral resource is now estimated at 53,890 tonnes copper, 255,240 ounces gold and 45,729 tonnes zinc. It said 135 drill holes - 117 vertical and 18 inclined - with a total length of 42,821 meters were used for the maiden mineral resource estimate and that 145 drill holes were completed for a total length of 46,409 meters.

Resources were previously estimated at 249,083 oz gold, 46,466 tonnes copper and 48,786 tonnes zinc.

"The Gilar mine will be an important contributor to the future production of the Company given its high grades of both gold and copper. The mine's production will be critical to bridge the gap between declining grades at our existing mines at Gedabek and our larger, new concessions entering production in the medium-term," said Stephen Westhead, Vice-President of Anglo Asian.

Anglo Asian Mining currently mines precious metals at the Gedabek and Gosha deposits.

Gilar is a mineral deposit located in the Gedabek contract area approximately 7 km from the AAM's existing processing facilities. The area hosts two styles of mineralization: gold in quartz veins and hydrothermal gold-copper.

AAM produced 43,114 ounces of gold in Azerbaijan in 2022, a decrease of 11.4% compared with 2021; 182,046 ounces of silver, up 17.8%; and 2,516 tonnes of copper, down 5%.