Anglo Asian Mining plc / Ticker: AAZ / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining
11 October 2013
Anglo Asian Mining plc ('Anglo Asian' or 'the Company')
Gedabek Gold, Copper and Silver Mine JORC Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources Increase to 1.12 Moz of gold
Anglo Asian Mining plc, the AIM listed gold producer in Azerbaijan, announces an increase in its JORC compliant gold resource at its flagship Gedabek gold/copper/silver mine ('Gedabek') located in the Republic of Azerbaijan to 44,644,658 tonnes at 0.783 g/t of gold ('Au') for 1,123,767 ounces in the Measured and Indicated categories. This is in accord with the Company's strategy to further increase the life of mine and ore reserves, which stand at 744,038 ounces of gold, at its producing Gedabek mine.
Overview
· Resource update following the completion of 26,842 meters of drilling (99 holes) as part of an on-going exploration programme in order to increase the mineral resources, ore reserves and life of mine at the producing Gedabek mine
· Achieved increased geological knowledge and confidence in the quantity and quality of the mineral resources and ore reserves within the current economic open pit limit at Gedabek
· Measured and Indicated gold resources (including mined ore) increased by circa 20% over that announced in March 2012, with an increase in ore tonnage from 37.11 million tonnes to 44.64 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.78 g/t
· Total JORC compliant resource of 51,591,901 tonnes at 0.754 g/t Au for 1,250,043 ounces Au; 0.155 % Cu for 80,036 tonnes; and 5.915 g/t Ag for 9,811,719 ounces (at a cut-off grade of 0.3 g/t of gold)
· Increased mineral resources of the southern regions and discovery of extension of the gold, copper and silver mineralisation in the west, northwest and northern regions
· 394 drill holes (c.61,714 meters) completed to date at Gedabek
· Updated resource does not include the 145,000 ounces of gold extracted from Gedabek between 1 January 2012 and 31 August 2013, which resulted in the production of 81,500 ounces of gold, with the remainder contained in stockpiled ore
· Exploration programme is on-going in order to further increase the potential at Gedabek where production is expected to increase to 60,000 ounces for FY 2013 and cash costs have decreased to US$450-500 per ounce following the commissioning of the Agitation Leaching Plant in June 2013
Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri said, "We are delighted to announce a JORC compliant resource update at Gedabek of 1.12 million ounces of gold in the Measured and Indicated category, which further underpins the production potential and the inherent value of Gedabek. With gold production at Gedabek reaching record highs since the commissioning of the new Agitation Leaching Plant and a target of 60,000 ounces on the horizon for FY 2013, our position as a profitable and cash generative production company is strengthening.
"It is now our plan to conduct further exploration and development work with a view to continuing to increase Gedabek's resource and reserves and improving the geological understanding of our flagship Gedabek deposit and in turn increasing the life of mine of the operation."
Further Information
Anglo Asian's mining consultants CAE Mining carried out an updated estimation of the mineral resources of the Gedabek mineral deposit. The updated estimation consisted of an extension of the previous estimations done by SRK Consulting Incorporated (2007), SGS Canada Incorporated (2010) and CAE Mining (2012) and it was completed in accordance with the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (The Joint Ore Reserves Committee, 2012).
The updated mineral resources estimation took into consideration the combined sources of information of the previous (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011) and recent (2011, 2012 and 2013) exploration drilling campaigns, which totalled 61,714 metres with 27,623 samples taken. An integrated and validated drillhole database was generated from these data.
The latest exploration drilling campaign which concluded in Q1 2013 totalled 26,842 meters over 99 holes with 9,338 samples taken. The main objectives of this campaign were to increase the level of geological knowledge and confidence of the tonnage and grade of the Gedabek deposit. As a result, CAE mining calculated an increased Measured and Indicated JORC compliant resource of 44,644,658 tonnes at 0.783 g/t of gold ('Au') for 1,123,767 ounces; and a total JORC compliant resource of 51,591,901 tonnes at 0.754 g/t Au for 1,250,043 ounces Au; 0.155 % Cu for 80,036 tonnes; and 5.915 g/t Ag for 9,811,719 ounces (at a cut-off grade of 0.3 g/t of gold).
Gedabek Mineralisation |
Classification |
Tonnage |
Grades |
Products |
|
t |
Au g/t |
Cu % |
Ag g/t |
Au oz |
Cu t |
Ag oz |
Measured |
20,381,748 |
0.948 |
0.249 |
7.962 |
620,900 |
50,721 |
5,217,687 |
Indicated |
24,262,874 |
0.645 |
0.104 |
4.994 |
502,867 |
25,174 |
3,895,325 |
Measured & Indicated |
44,644,658 |
0.783 |
0.170 |
6.349 |
1,123,767 |
75,895 |
9,113,012 |
Inferred |
6,947,244 |
0.565 |
0.060 |
3.128 |
126,277 |
4,141 |
698,706 |
Total |
51,591,901 |
0.754 |
0.155 |
5.915 |
1,250,043 |
80,036 |
9,811,719 |
The updated mineral resource data also provided a much better knowledge of the geological and structural geology settings of the gold, copper and silver mineralisation of the Gedabek deposit. This knowledge was based on the generation and interpretation of 26 longitudinal and 39 transversal geological and structural geology cross sections. These cross sections were generated by accessing the information contained in the integrated and validated drillhole database and taking into account surface and open pit geological and structural geology mapping.
Additionally, intensive cross validation was undertaken that involved the review of the pictures and the multi-element chemical analysis of the drillhole core intervals. Lithological, mineralisation and structural geology three dimensional spatial models were generated to constraint the statistical and geostatistical analysis, statistical and geostatistical interpolation processes.
The gold, copper and silver grades of the Gedabek mineral deposit were spatially estimated by accessing the information contained in the integrated and validated drillhole database and applying the ordinary kriging geostatistical algorithm. A detailed sensitivity analysis and validation process regarding to the interpolation criteria and parameters required by the statistical and geostatistical algorithms were considered as essential components of the applied methodology.
The classification of the updated mineral resources was in accordance with the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (The Joint Ore Reserves Committee, 2012). In addition, the quantity and quality of the mineral resources estimated were constrained with both the original surface topography and the open pit surface topography dated on 31 August 2013.
The information contained in this announcement and the Updated Mineral Resources Report that relates to Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Guillermo Turner-Saad, who is a full-time employee of CAE Mining. Mr Turner-Saad is a Fellow of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and he has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity which he is undertaking 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' and a 'qualified person' as defined in the Guidance Note for Mining, Oil and Gas Companies, June 2009, of the London Stock Exchange. Mr Turner-Saad has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement and consents to the inclusion in the Updated Mineral Resources Report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears. The full Updated Mineral Resources Report prepared by CAE Mining will be available shortly at www.angloasianmining.com
**ENDS**
For further information please visit www.angloasianmining.com or contact:
Reza Vaziri |
Anglo Asian Mining plc |
Tel: +994 12 596 3350 |
Sean Duffy |
Anglo Asian Mining plc |
Tel: +994 12 596 3350 |
Ewan Leggat |
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3463 2260 |
Laura Littley |
SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3463 2260 |
Felicity Edwards |
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
Lottie Brocklehurst |
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177 |
Notes:
Anglo Asian Mining plc (AIM:AAZ) is a gold producer in Central Asia with a broad portfolio of production and exploration assets in Azerbaijan. The Company has a 1,962 sq km prospective exploration portfolio, assembled from analysis of historic Soviet geological data and held under a Production Sharing Agreement ('PSA') based on the Azeri oil industry. The Company developed Azerbaijan's first operating gold/copper mine, Gedabek, which commenced gold production in May 2009. Gold production for the year ended 31 December 2012 totalled 50,215 oz of gold and FY 2013 gold production target is 60,000 oz of gold in line with the successful commissioning of the new agitation leaching plant at Gedabek in H1 2013.
Anglo Asian is actively looking to exploit its first mover advantage in Azerbaijan to by developing additional projects, as well as looking for other properties in order to fulfil its expansion ambitions and become a mid-tier gold and base metal production company. With this in mind, the Company is currently developing its second mining operation, Gosha, which is 50km away from Gedabek into a small, profitable mining operation and is targeting to increase the Company's total gold production by the end of 2014 to 80,000 to 90,000 ounces of gold.
