Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 28
By Sara Israfilbayova – Trend:
Anglo Asian Mining PLC (AAM) in total has contributed around $400-500 million to Azerbaijan since commencing business, President & CEO of the company Reza Vaziri told Trend.
Vaziri stressed that the company has directly invested around $250 million in the production facilities, mining and other equipment since commencing operations.
“Our contribution to the mining industry in Azerbaijan has been hugely significant, as we were the first mining company, since Azerbaijan gaining independence. We not only proved that mining in Azerbaijan could work and reward investors, but also be highly beneficial to both local communities and the entire country,” Vaziri noted.
The CEO underlined that the North West of Azerbaijan is situated on the Tethyan Belt [extending from Europe through Anatolia to Iran, is one of the world's major metal producing belts], which is a very prospective area of known high mineralization.
“We therefore believe that Azerbaijan's mining industry still has very significant further potential,” he said.
Anglo Asian Mining PLC is a gold, copper and silver producer with a broad portfolio of production and exploration assets in Azerbaijan.
AAM and Swiss Industrial Minerals SA signed an agreement in May 2014 on selling cooper concentrate produced at Gadabay field in Azerbaijan. 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.
The gold produced at the fields is sent to Switzerland for purification. The ingots are delivered to Azerbaijan and are stored in the government’s account.
In January-September 2018 AAM produced 54,573 ounces of gold, 144,362 ounces of silver and 1,057 tons of copper.