New Gold Discovery at its Gedabek Licence Area

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

17 October 2016

Anglo Asian Mining plc

New Gold Discovery at its Gedabek Licence Area

 

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or "the Company"), the AIM listed gold, copper and silver producer focused in Azerbaijan, is pleased to announce a new gold discovery, "Ugur", within its Gedabek licence area in western Azerbaijan ("Gedabek Licence"). This is in line with the Company's strategy to continue to expand the potential resource at the Gedabek Licence. Ugur provides significant potential upside to the Company's future gold production.

 

Highlights

·    Gold exploration target discovered 3 kilometres north-west of the Company's agitation leaching plant and heap leach facilities at its Gedabek Licence

·    Positive assay results returned from chip samples and reverse circulation drilling

o All drill holes ended in oxide mineralisation

o Preliminary testwork results yielded an average recovery of gold of 87 per cent. suggesting the oxide zone is amenable to leaching

·    Initial Phase II core drilling programme has commenced to determine overall depth and style of mineralisation with a view to increase resources

·    Detailed geological structural and alteration mapping has started and additional trenching is also planned before the end of 2016

·    Significant upside potential as target has only been partially drilled and initial field mapping suggests that the area is open along strike

·    Additional exploration target defined in the expanded Ugur area

o Based on similar alteration and geomorphological position to the Ugur deposit located approximately 1,500 metres south of the current Ugur drilling area

o Further evaluation planed as part of the 2017 field work programme

 

Anglo Asian CEO, Reza Vaziri, said, "In line with our strategy to increase our gold production, we are constantly evaluating the upside surrounding our producing mines and the discovery of the Ugur deposit has the potential to add significantly to our gold resources and reserves and hence our future production at Gedabek.  Having recently returned to profitability, and following the completion of several operational initiatives to improve efficiencies and lower costs at Gedabek, I believe Anglo Asian is now well positioned to expand its mineable reserves which will lay the foundations for long term and sustainable production from multiple deposits at Gedabek. This is an exciting time for the Company and I look forward to updating shareholders on our progress as we look to unlock the potential from this new target and increase value for our shareholders in the process."

 

Anglo Asian Group Director of Geology, Stephen Westhead, said "This prospect is very exciting given its close proximity to the Gedabek processing facilities and the initial positive drill and metallurgical testwork results. We look forward to continuing exploration work with a view to enlarging our gold and copper resources and reserves for extending or increasing mine production".

 

Background

 

Anglo Asian's in-house exploration group has defined a new mineral occurrence named "Ugur" (meaning "good luck" or "success" in the Azeri language) located three kilometres north-west from its agitation leaching plant and heap leach facilities at its Gedabek Licence. This was defined as part of the ongoing exploration programme to assess alteration zones and geological structures along strike from its Gedabek mine.  As previously reported, this programme is designed to expand the Gedabek gold and copper resource.

 

The Ugur deposit area was defined from mapping and is a significant surface alteration rock assemblage with the presence of barite, barite-haematite, and limonite in gossan-style zones along with vuggy silica in brecciated volcanic rocks.  These findings were established by 500 chip samples taken from outcrop, many of which contained gold.  This alteration zone extends over an area of 1,000 metres (east-north-east by west-south-west) by 500 metres (north-west by south-east) and has been initially explored via five excavator trenches to a depth of 1.5 metres over a total length of 210 metres.  This yielded good assay results for gold (zone thicknesses between 5 to 10 metres contain gold with ranges 0.3 to 2.0 grammes per tonne and silver between 1.0 to 15.0 grammes per tonne).

 

Detailed drill-hole results

 

20 vertical reverse circulation ("RC") holes totalling 360 metres were drilled at Ugur from which assay results were subsequently obtained.  The initial area covered by this RC drilling is 350 metres (east-north-east by west-south-west) by 180 metres (north by south) within the alteration area.  Significant results are set out in the table below.  These intersections (above 0.3 grammes per tonne) are all located in the oxide zone commencing from surface (unless otherwise stated).  The assays returned no results for copper.

 

 

Drillhole	Intersection Gold grade in grammes per tonne - (g/t)
UGRC 3	34 metres at 0.39 g/t (including 13 metres at 0.83 g/t from 13 metres depth)
UGRC 4	27 metres at 1.82 g/t (starting 3 metres from surface*)
UGRC 5	13 metres  at 1.00 g/t
UGRC 7	24 metres at 0.39 g/t (starting 11 metres from surface*)
UGRC 10	29 metres at 1.31 g/t (starting 5 metres from surface*)
UGRC 11	34 metres at 1.23 g/t
UGRC 12	34 metres at 0.65 g/t
UGRC 13	34 metres at 1.11 g/t
UGRC 14	34 metres at 5.45 g/t
UGRC 15	34 metres at 0.58 g/t
UGRC 16	19 metres at 1.68 g/t
UGRC 18	28 metres at 1.42 (starting 6 metres from surface*) including 8 metres at 2.83 g/t from 6 metres depth
UGRC 20	30 metres at 1.11 g/t (including 8 metres at 1.74 g/t from 10 metres depth)

 * sample not taken from surface due to clay soil layer.

 

All drillholes ended in oxide mineralisation.  Preliminary bottle roll testwork results yielded an average recovery of gold of 87 per cent., suggesting the oxide zone is amenable to leaching.

 

Summary and future evaluation

 

These drill results continue to expand the resource potential at the Gedabek Licence, and the Company is encouraged by the positive findings at the Ugur deposit.  The area has only partially been drilled and initial field mapping suggests that the area is open along strike. Further detailed geological structural and alteration mapping has started and additional trenching is also planned this year.  An initial Phase II core drilling programme designed on a grid for resource estimation has commenced, and will establish the overall depth and style of mineralisation.

 

A further geological exploration target has been defined in the expanded Ugur area based on similar alteration and geomorphological position to the Ugur deposit that is located about 1,500 metres to the south of the current Ugur RC drilling area.  This will be further evaluated as part of the 2017 programme of field work.

 

 

Competent Person Statement

 

The information in the announcement that relates to exploration results is based on information compiled by Dr Stephen Westhead, Director of Geology at the Anglo Asian Mining group, who is a Fellow of The Geological Society of London, a Chartered Geologist and a Member of The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

 

Stephen Westhead 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 qualified person as defined by the AIM rules.  Stephen Westhead has reviewed the exploration results included in this announcement.

 

**ENDS**

 

For further information please visit www.angloasianmining.com or contact:

 

Reza Vaziri	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: +994 12 596 3350
Bill Morgan	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: +994 502 910 400
Stephen Westhead	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: +994 502 916 894
Ewan Leggat	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Broker	Tel: +44 (0) 20 3470 0470
Laura Harrison	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Tel + 44 (0) 20 3470 0470
Lottie Brocklehurst	St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177
Susie Geliher	St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: +44 (0) 20 7236 1177

 

Notes:

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 has a 1,962 square kilometre portfolio, assembled from analysis of historic Soviet geological data and held under a Production Sharing Agreement modelled on the Azeri oil industry.

 

The Company developed Azerbaijan's first operating gold/copper/silver mine, Gedabek, which commenced gold production in May 2009.  Gedabek is an open cast mine with a series of interconnected pits. The Company also mines high grade ore from the Gadir underground mine which is co-located at the Gedabek site. The Company has a second underground mine, Gosha, which is 50 kilometres from Gedabek. Ore mined at Gosha is processed at Anglo Asian's Gedabek plant.

 

Gold production for the year ended 31 December 2015 from Gedabek totalled 72,032 ounces with 969 tonnes of copper also produced.  Gedabek is a polymetallic deposit and its ore has a high copper content, and as a result the Company produces copper concentrate from its Sulphidisation, Acidification, Recycling, and Thickening (SART) plant. Anglo Asian also produces a copper and precious metal concentrate from its flotation plant, which commenced production in the last quarter of 2015. This is initially processing tailings from the agitation leach plant.

 

Anglo Asian is also actively seeking to exploit its first mover advantage in Azerbaijan to identify additional projects, as well as looking for other properties in order to fulfil its expansion ambitions and become a mid-tier gold and copper metal production company.