Anglo Asian Mining plc / Ticker: AAZ / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

16 August 2021

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Zafar maiden JORC mineral resource completed - 8.5 million tonnes of mineralisation with average copper grade of 0.60 per cent.

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM-listed gold, copper and silver producer focused on Azerbaijan, is pleased to provide a maiden JORC Mineral Resource for its Zafar polymetallic deposit (the "Zafar deposit"). The Zafar deposit is situated in the central region of the Company's Gedabek contract area in western Azerbaijan and is approximately 1.5 kilometres from the existing Gedabek processing facilities.

Zafar deposit highlights

·    8.47 million tonnes of mineralisation with average grades of 0.60 per cent. copper, 0.47 per cent. zinc and 0.30 grammes per tonne of gold

·    In-situ Mineral Resource of 51,000 tonnes of copper, 82,000 ounces of gold and 40,000 tonnes of zinc

·    Over 200 metres of continuous mineralisation in the thickest intersection

·    42 drill holes with a total length of 20,418 metres used for maiden Mineral Resource estimate of which 28 drill holes intersected mineralisation

·    Total drilling to date is nearly 27,000 metres of a planned 40,000 metres

Mineral Resource estimate for the Zafar deposit at 31 May 2021

Copper > 0.3 per cent. copper equivalent

Note that all tonnages reported are dry metric tonnes. Totals may not add due to rounding.

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri commented:

"Zafar's maiden Mineral Resource estimate is extremely encouraging and will help underpin the Company's future long-term production growth. Located in close proximity to our existing Gedabek processing plant, there are significant operational and geographical synergies which will help us rapidly develop this resource. We are now highly focused on completing the final mineral reserve estimation of the deposit by the end of the year and successfully bringing Zafar into production as soon as possible."

Anglo Asian Vice-President, Stephen Westhead commented:

"The Zafar drilling results are very encouraging and increase the resources, the reserves and, ultimately, the metal production of the Company. Exploration is being fast-tracked to assess the economics of the project with a view to starting production in 2023. The team are highly motivated by this aggressive approach and are working to rapidly complete the mineral reserves and mine plan of this challenging project. In the vicinity of the Zafar deposit are a number of other exciting prospects where ZTEM anomalies have been defined. With the ramp-up of drilling capacity, the Company looks forward to further announcements as this project develops. The geology team at Gedabek has recently been strengthened and is supported by new equipment including XRD analysers, three-dimensional core logging tools and new technical software."

Resource estimation and current work at Zafar

Further details about the Zafar deposit, the resource estimation and the current work being carried out at Zafar can be found below.

Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) Disclosure

Certain information contained in this announcement would have been deemed inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, which was incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, until the release of this announcement.

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Notes to Editors:

Anglo Asian Mining plc (AIM:AAZ) is a gold, copper and silver producer in central Asia with a broad portfolio of production and exploration assets in Azerbaijan. The Company produced 67,249 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") for the year ended 31 December 2020.  The Company has a production target for the year to 31 December 2021 of 48,000 ounces to 54,000 ounces of gold and 2,500 tonnes to 2,800 tonnes of copper. This total production target expressed as GEOs at budgeted prices is between 64,000 GEOs and 72,000 GEOs.

https://www.angloasianmining.com/

Zafar deposit

The detailed JORC ('Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (JORC Code) 2012 Edition') "JORC" Mineral Resource estimate for the Zafar deposit has been published on the Company's website and is available at https://wp-angloasianmining-2020.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/media/2021/08/13121825/Zafer_Mineral_Resource_Estimate.pdf. The table one report accompanying the JORC Mineral Resource estimate is available at https://wp-angloasianmining-2020.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/media/2021/08/13120129/ZafAr_MRE_JORC_TABLE1.pdf. 

The initial announcement dated 19 January 2021 "New Copper and Gold Discovery at its Gedabek Licence Area" is available on the Company's website which gives the background to the Zafar property.

Current work at the Zafar deposit

The Company is currently employing four core drill rigs over the planned central mine area. One additional rig is working on extension drilling and condemnation drilling for the proposed underground decline and ramp system. Four drill rigs are configured for oriented drill core to define structural orientations in detail and large core diameter geotechnical drilling for rock mass classification purposes. Rock strength property tests are being conducted on the drill core. Borehole hydrogeological measuring equipment is being used to measure groundwater levels, water recharge and chemistry, all of which are critical for mine design.

Investigation of the mineralisation is ongoing and includes microscope studies of the deposit minerals and rocks to determine the mineralogy, the grain size and mineral interlocking relations. A substantial density dataset has been established as required for tonnage estimation. These data will be used in the geometallurgical modelling to assess the optimum ore beneficiation methods.

Geotechnical data including rock quality test and hardness in drill cores are also being collected, which are critical for mining method studies and underground development scheduling.

Composite sampling for metallurgical test-work to complement the geometallurgical studies has also been conducted to assess the best ways to extract the ore minerals for future optimised production. Initial test-work is being carried out at the Company's laboratories to determine the required further work for mineral deportment studies and process optimisation.

A detailed drill programme is underway for further Mineral Resource definition, Mineral Resource extension and engineering to provide data for the final Mineral Resource estimation, which is planned to be released before the end of 2021. Ore Reserve estimation will then follow. Mining equipment selection, staffing, infrastructure and process design will start in late 2021. The Company will then develop the final geological model. This will include mineralisation and country rock determination, a structural model, a hydrological model and a geotechnical model that will all feed into the rock mass model for detailed mine design.

Zafar mineral resources - supporting work and independent expert opinion

The Company engaged the independent consulting group, Mining Plus UK Limited, to review the Company's database and provide the interim maiden Mineral Resource estimate. In addition, the drillhole spacing required for the final JORC classified Mineral Resources estimation has been defined so the next stage of work can be directly focused on resource drilling.

A preliminary mining method study comparing open pit versus underground methods has indicated that underground semi-bulk extraction by a sub-level caving system is likely to be the optimum mining method for the Zafar ore body. Stope design has commenced and a mineable shape optimiser ('MSO') was used to generate stope shapes to test the data that resulted in a coherent stope model. Schematic ramp design to access the mineralisation has also been completed to allow for planning of condemnation drill targets and geotechnical studies.

In conjunction with Mining Plus, the Company engaged a hydrological and geotechnical consulting group ('KLM Consulting Services') to assess water issues and rock mass for mine planning and design. A structural and hydrological model was produced and the design completed for emplacing piezometer sensors for monitoring ground water.   

The Company has also prepared indicative three-dimensional geology, geological structural and mineral alteration models. Data from the recent ground based geophysical Induction Polarisation ('IP') and resistivity survey are being interpreted in conjunction with the nearby ZTEM data.

456 samples were sent to the independent ALS Laboratories for analysis, involving four-acid digest and multi-element analysis with gold assay. These independent assay results were used to validate the quality assurance and quality control ('QA/QC') data acquired at the Company laboratory, which included the use of duplicates, blanks and certified reference materials (CRMs).

Competent Person Statement

The information in the announcement that relates to exploration results and Mineral Resources is based on information compiled by Dr Matthew Field, who is a full-time employee of Mining Plus UK Ltd with the position of Principal Geology Consultant, who is a Fellow of The Geological Society of London, a Fellow of the Geological Society of South Africa, Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists, and registered with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) with the designation Pr.Sci.Nat.

Matthew Field has sufficient experience that is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity being undertaken to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves'. Matthew Field consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Matthew Field has extensive experience, relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that he is undertaking, to qualify as a "competent person" as defined by the AIM rules. Matthew Field has reviewed the Mineral Resources included in this announcement.

APPENDIX: GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

The following definitions are extracted from the JORC Code, 2012 Edition