Azerbaijan, Baku, November 28 / Trend, A. Akhundov /
The reserves of gold in Azerbaijan, with all discovered mines in consideration, oscillate from 1,500 to 2,000 tons, Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Huseyngulu Bagirov told Trend.
"How much investments exploration of all gold mines need is hard to say. We have gold mines where we should work within a large area. On contrary, some gold mines have rich reserves but no roads, infrastructure. Each mine needs an individual approach; nevertheless, current gold prices enable us to work at any gold mine," Bagirov reported.
"Azerbaijan has become one of the gold-mining countries. The country has produced more than 3 tons of gold since 2009," Bagirov said.
He said revaluation of Gadabek copper-gold deposit's reserves was carried out.
"If earlier it reserves were estimated at 4,790 tons of copper, 6,061 tons of gold and 71,960 of silver, now they are estimated at 37,000 tons of copper, 23,000 tons of gold and 190 tons of silver," Bagirov said.
He said the field's reserves are operated by the company RV INVESTMENT.
Recoverable reserves of Chovdar gold deposit in Dashkesan ore region are estimated at 44,610 tons of gold and 164,250 tons of silver, Bagirov said.
The only gold producer in Azerbaijan, the Anglo Asian Mining Plc company produced 13,166 ounces ('oz') of gold at its Gedabek mine, which is 9.7 per cent less than late second quarter of 2011.
Total gold production reached 41,770 oz since the beginning of the year and in sales terms is the most buoyant price seen on the Anglo Asian markets reaching sales of 11,342 oz of gold at an average of $1,704 per oz for the three months to Sept.30, 2011.
The average price per ounce in the third quarter was 13.1 per cent more than the second quarter.
Anglo Asian Mining Plc owns the rights to develop six fields in south-west Azerbaijan at Gedabey, Ordubad, Gosha Bulag, Gizil Bulag, Vejnali and Soyutlu. The concession is based on PSA agreements signed with the Azerbaijani government in August 1997.
The PSA has signed an agreement with the Azerbaijani government and Azerbaijan International Mineral Resources Operating Co.Ltd (AIMROC) for 30 years where Azerbaijan's share is 51 per cent whilst Britain's Anglo-Asian Mining Plc is 49 per cent.
According to the contract, production plans aim to yield 400 tons of gold, 2,500 tons of silver, and 1.5 million tons of copper. Gold and silver were first discovered in Gedabek in May 2009. More than 300 million ounces of gold are planned to be produced from this field by 2015.