Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov.22
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
Anglo-Asian Mining PLC (ААМ) plans to produce 20 tons of copper per day at the new flotation plant, the company's director general Reza Vaziri told Trend.
He noted that the plant will start working at full capacity in 20-25 days.
Based on the production sharing agreement signed with Azerbaijani government in August 1997, Anglo Asian Mining PLC has the right to develop six fields in south-west of Azerbaijan: 'Gadabay', 'Ordubad', 'Gosha Bulag', 'Gizil Bulag', 'Vejnali' and 'Soyutlu'.
"Gadabay field is one of the most complex fields in terms of development," said Vaziri.
"Previously, we thought that it is a gold mine, but now we realize that it is primarily a copper deposit with a high gold content."
The process of separating gold from copper is very difficult, he said.
Moreover, this is the first field in the world, where their separation from the ore requires three different plants, according to Vaziri.
It was earlier reported that AAM plans to produce 5,000 ounces of gold and 1,200 tons of copper at the new flotation plant in 2015.
The new flotation plant will allow to increase the copper production.
The company produced 54,103 ounces of gold, 634 tons of copper with SART method and 10,916 ounces of silver in Jan.-Sept. 2015.
ААМ plans to produce 74,000-75,000 ounces of gold by late 2015.
AAM and Swiss Industrial Minerals SA signed an agreement in May 2014 on selling cooper concentrate produced at Gadabay field.
The contract signed for the period of three years envisages the purchase of copper concentrate by the Swiss company.
Industrial Minerals will purchase both dry and wet copper concentrate.
The gold produced at the fields is sent to Switzerland for purification. The ingots are delivered to Azerbaijan and stored in the government's account.