Anglo Asian Mining PLC, a British company engaged in the extraction of precious metals in Azerbaijan, has received permission to resume its activities at the Gadabay contract area, Ednews informs.
After the company announced the resumption of operations in Azerbaijan, its stock surged by 42% to 70.93 pence per share late on Tuesday morning in London.
The gold, copper and silver producer said it signed an agreement with the Government of Azerbaijan on an action plan to undertake some improvements to its operations and procedures on the back of an environmental audit conducted by Micon International Ltd. Most of the items will be implemented by the end of next year and the measures won't involve significant expenditure, the company said.
Anglo Asian Mining said that the restart of mining--which will happen immediately--will return the production of gold ore and copper concentrate to former levels.
The London-listed miner kept its full-year production guidance of 30,000 to 34,000 gold equivalent ounces.
The rest of the restart operations will be carried out in stages, it said, adding that the flotation plan will restart in around 90 days, after the wall of the existing tailings dam has been further raised.
Micon visited Anglo Asian's Gadabay gold mine in late July, to carry out the full inspection at the government's request, based on allegations of environmental contamination.
In September, Anglo Asian reported that Gadabay's radiation levels were aligned with natural background conditions for the area, no issues were found with air quality, and no cyanide was found in any soil sample above the limits of analytical detection.
Anglo Asian said upgrades identified by the audit include improved handling and storage of reagents and other chemicals, implementing plans for emergencies such as spills or "a cyanide incident", and a feasibility study for the alternative storage of tailings.
The company also said it is accelerating the development of the Gilar mine, and is "actively collaborating" with authorities "to ensure the successful execution" of work to further raise the wall of the existing tailings dam at its flotation plant.
Anglo Asian Mining is currently operating the Gadabay and Gosha contract areas. Mining first began in 2009 in the Gadabay deposit; in September 2013, the company began developing the Gosha contract area. This year it is expected to begin production at the Vejnali and Gilar fields.
The PSA-type contract was signed on August 21, 1997, and provided for the development of 6 fields. Azerbaijan's share in the contract is 51%; Anglo Asian Mining PLC - 49%. Currently, the company owns the rights to develop 8 contract areas in Azerbaijan.
In 2022, Anglo-Asian produced 43,114 ounces of gold in Azerbaijan (a decline of 11.4% compared to 2021), 182,046 ounces (an increase of 17.8%) of silver, and 2,516 tons (a decline of 5 %) of copper. On world markets in 2022, 34,918 ounces of gold bullion were sold (a decline of 11.7%) at an average price of $1,783 US per ounce.
