Overall Progress of Exploration Programme

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

24 February 2020

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Overall Progress of Exploration Programme

Planned Exploration Work for 2020

 

Anglo Asian Mining PLC ("AAM" or the "Company"), the AIM listed gold, copper and silver producer focused in Azerbaijan, is pleased to provide a summary of the overall progress of its exploration programme. The Company also provides details of its planned exploration in 2020 at its Contract Areas ("CA").

Highlights

Gedabek

·     Work defining further mineable lateral and down-dip mineralisation at Gadir is ongoing and showing good results

·     The tunnel development towards the mineralisation target below the Gedabek open pit is advancing at a good pace

o  The tunnel will be extended to enable the construction of drill chambers to test the down-dip extensions

o  The very important milestone of extending the tunnel from Pit four to Pit six to be achieved in 2020

·     Publication planned of new Resource and Reserves statements for Gedabek open pit in 2020

·     Follow-up geophysics planned on the exciting copper mineralisation intersections adjacent to the Ugur deposit

·     Ground-based geophysics at Avshancli to be carried out to target drilling for resource estimation

·     Further exploration at mineralisation occurrences at Söyüdlü, Maarif and Bittibulag in 2020

Gosha

·     Recent early stage exploration of Gosha fully supports the case for further exploration

·     Further work planned in 2020

o  Drill programme for Asrikchay as well as reinterpretation of electrical geophysics to target polymetallic mineralisation

o  Investigation of subsurface potential beneath Gosha

o  Surface core drilling to test targets outside of 'Zone 5'

·

Ordubad

·     Work at Ordubad is extremely encouraging with significant grades intersected at both Dirnis and Keleki

o  Further surface geological mapping, trenching and sampling focused around Aylis, Dirnis, Keleki and Urchurdag planned

·     Future drill locations to be determined through geological modelling and mineral targeting with the aim to prioritise locations for resource drilling

·     Preparation of a new geological map for the Ordubad CA underway

·     Drilling planned between Shakardara and Piyazbashi, Aylis, and copper targets near Dirnis, focusing on copper and gold structural targets

 

Stephen Westhead, Director of Geology & Mining, commented: "I am delighted to provide both an overview of the progress of our exploration programme to date and the work planned for the rest of this year. Overall, the work that has been carried out at our three contract areas over the past year has been highly encouraging.  In 2020, we will actively continue our exploration programmes to capitalise on the significant potential upside which we believe exists across our portfolio.  We look forward to sharing with you the results of our 2020 work programmes and are confident that we will expand our resources and extend the footprint of our operations."

Gedabek CA

Work defining the lateral and down-dip mineralisation at the Gadir underground mine is ongoing and further mineable extensions are being discovered. The tunnel development from Gadir towards the target mineralisation below the Gedabek open pit is advancing at a good pace. The tunnel is currently extended to about 120 metres below the pit floor at the northern part of the Gedabek open pit (Pit number four). Drill chambers to test the down-dip extensions have also been constructed. The ventilation system is also in place, which will allow underground drilling to commence once the tunnelling work for the cross-cut tunnels and drill chambers is complete.

It is planned that in 2020, a very important milestone in the tunnel development of Gedabek underground will be achieved, namely, the underground tunnelling will be extended from Pit four to Pit six. This is the targeted area of mineralisation. As in previous years, efforts will also continue to expand the reserve footprint of current operations, with the planned publication in 2020 of an update of the Gedabek open pit Resource and Reserves.

Exploration work continues in the vicinity of the Ugur mine. The results of drill holes adjacent to the Ugur deposit are especially exciting with intersections at 25 metres of nearly two per cent. copper. This will be the focus of geophysical follow up in 2020.

Exploration within the wider region of the Gedabek CA continues to find both gold and copper at near-surface. Work will continue at the high-priority targets of Avshancli (including zones 1 to 3) and Gilar. Avshancli covers a large area and both trenching and drilling has identified zones of good to exceptional grade mineralisation. It is intended to carry out ground-based geophysics to further understand the 3D geometry and continuity of the system to target drilling for resource estimation. A reinterpretation of the aerial survey ('ZTEM') results is providing geological field data to better correlate anomalies with actual sample data. This work will be correlated with the WorldView-3® satellite images to focus on areas that geologically can host mineralisation. The Gedabek CA continues to show very high prospective mineralisation to provide further resources to grow shareholder value.

Further exploration activity is planned during 2020 at other known mineralisation occurrences, namely the gold potential at Söyüdlü, the copper potential at Maarif and the copper and gold potential at Bittibulag.

Gosha CA

The Gosha CA has regions showing several differing styles of mineralisation, including vein gold and polymetallic mineralisation as found at Asrikchay. A reinterpretation of the electrical geophysics survey conducted at Asrikchay will be used for drill hole positioning to target the polymetallic mineralisation. Exploration of the Gosha CA is still at an early stage, but the presence of a gold mine, surface gold mineralisation and mineralised drill intersections all support the case for further exploration and the potential for resource development.

Given the significant mineral potential of the Gosha CA, a programme of work has been developed for 2020 to gain an understanding of the subsurface beneath the existing Gosha mine and to continue to expand exploration. Further work, predominantly diamond drilling, is planned to explore other targets away from 'Zone 5' and an additional drill programme is also planned for Asrikchay. Preliminary wireframing of the geology beneath Asrikchay is ongoing and will be validated against the second phase of drilling.

Ordubad CA

The data obtained from drilling in the Ordubad CA is extremely encouraging. Significant grades have been intersected in both Dirnis and Keleki. Geological modelling and mineral targeting of the region is ongoing to identify drilling locations to test the presence and extent of mineralising systems and associated features such as lithocaps, with the aim to prioritise locations for resource drilling. It is apparent that the copper and gold upside potential is significant, and the geological team continue to prioritise targets for resource evaluation to create shareholder value.

A programme of work has been developed to further understand the overall geological framework of the mineralisation genesis at Ordubad and to begin to follow up on the previously reported geology. Work continuing into 2020 includes further visits by geologists from the Natural History Museum (London) following up fieldwork to expand mapping, geochemical data interpretation, drill core interpretation and additional sampling. The preparation of a new geological map for the Ordubad CA is planned for Q1 2020 based on WorldView-3® remote sensing satellite imagery, in-house geochemical results and field mapping. Further trenching and drilling will be carried out to validate the findings. The acquisition of additional WorldView-3® remote sensing satellite imagery will be considered covering areas where data were not collected in the first acquisition.

Further surface geological mapping, trenching and sampling work will be carried out around Aylis, Dirnis, Keleki and Urchurdag. In 2020, the Company plans 1,000 metres of trenching, 200 stream sediment sampling points, 600 outcrop samples and 2,500 litho-geochemical analyses. A ground-based induced polarisation ("IP") geophysics survey is also planned to cover the highest ranked target. A provisional total of 7,200 metres of drilling is also scheduled for the area between Shakardara and Piyazbashi, Aylis, and copper targets near Dirnis, focusing on copper and gold structural targets. This drilling will be following up on the exceptional gold grades returned by the 2019 drill programme. The region around Dirnis also has significant copper potential with malachite mineralisation extensive on surface. The recent discovery of the Aylis gold veins is thought to be part of the same mineralising "hub" demonstrating the extent of mineralisation and the near surface proximity highlighting the open pit potential of the area.

Extension of Current Mine Life

The Company is in a very strong position with significant exploration upside at all three of its Contract Areas. The exploration programmes are being designed to be rolled out to allow time for "dovetailing" exploration results into resources and ultimately reserves to extend the current life of mine. The Company is confident that the resources will yield extensions of operations to provide significant shareholder upside from the metal in the ground being converted to revenue. 

This work is being planned to optimise the life of mine for each property within the current permitted activity timeline in the Production Sharing Agreement ("PSA"). Assuming the two available five-year extensions in the PSA are requested by AIMC for each property, the permitted production periods are as follows:

Mine	Year of submission of notice of discovery	Last year of permitted production
Gedabek	2008	2033
Gadir	2012	2037
Ugur	2016	2041
Gosha	2012	2037

 

Competent Person Statement

The information in the announcement that relates to exploration results, minerals resources and ore reserves is based on information compiled by Dr Stephen Westhead, who is a full-time employee of Anglo Asian Mining with the position of Director of Geology & Mining, who is a Fellow of The Geological Society of London, a Chartered Geologist, Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists, Member of The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and a Member of the Institute of Directors.

Stephen Westhead 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'. Stephen Westhead consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Stephen Westhead has sufficient 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. Stephen Westhead has reviewed the resources and reserves included in this announcement.

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 until the release of 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
Soltan Tagiev	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Broker	Tel + 44 (0) 20 3470 0470
Camilla Horsfall	Blytheweigh Financial	Tel: + 44(0) 20 7138 3224
Megan Ray	Blytheweigh Financial	Tel: + 44(0) 20 7138 3224

 

 

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's main operating location is the Gedabek contract area ("Gedabek") which is a 300 square kilometre area in the Lesser Caucasus mountains in western Azerbaijan. The Company developed Azerbaijan's first operating gold/copper/silver mine at Gedabek which commenced gold production in May 2009.  Mining at Gedabek was initially from its main open pit which is an open cast mine with a series of interconnected pits. The Company also operates the high grade Gadir underground mine which is co-located at the Gedabek site. In September 2017, production commenced at the Ugur open pit mine, a recently discovered gold ore deposit at Gedabek. 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.

 

The Company produced 82,795 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") for the year ended 31 December 2019 at budget metal prices.  Gedabek is a polymetallic ore deposit that has gold together with significant concentrations of copper in the main open pit mine, and an oxide gold-rich zone at Ugur. The Company therefore employs a series of flexible processing routes to optimise metal recoveries and efficiencies.  The Company produces gold doré through agitation and heap leaching operations, copper concentrate from its Sulphidisation, Acidification, Recycling, and Thickening (SART) plant and also a copper and precious metal concentrate from its flotation 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.