Anglo Asian Mining (LSE: AAZ), Azerbaijan’s main gold mining firm, has been awarded three new copper concessions in the nation, which the corporate thinks may flip it into a mid-tier copper-gold producer.
The miner mentioned it’s evaluating how finest to take advantage of the economically mineable copper sources contained inside the new belongings, which cowl a mixed space of 882 sq. kilometers and have appreciable synergies and geographical proximity with its present mining properties.
“The settlement [with the Azeri government] is a transformational milestone within the historical past of the corporate with the Garadagh porphyry deposit alone containing over 300,000 tonnes of copper with an in-situ worth of over $3 billion at present costs,” Anglo Asian mentioned.
Two of the brand new concessions border the present Gedabek and Gosha Contract Areas and include the large-scale Garadagh porphyry deposit and the adjoining Xarxar copper deposit.
As a part of the deal, Anglo Asian will relinquish its rights to the open-pit Soyudlu gold mine (often known as Soutely, Zod, or, in Armenian, Sotk), positioned on the border between Azerbaijan’s Kelbajar district and Armenia.
Till work was halted in November last year, the mine was being operated by GPM Gold, the fourth-largest taxpayer in Armenia in 2020 according to the State Revenue Committee, paying over 30 billion drams (US$58 million) into government coffers.
Giving up its rights to the Soutely mining property follows “ongoing safety issues, the impracticality of working a mine straddling the border with Armenia, the excessive degree of danger growing the mine and an absence of infrastructure on the Azerbaijan facet of the border,” the corporate mentioned in a press release.
The brand new concessions will probably be integrated into Anglo Asian’s up to date manufacturing sharing settlement with the Azeri authorities, and can must be ratified by parliament earlier than turning into efficient.