Acquisition of geological exploration data

RNS Number : 3763W

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

18 August 2022

 

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

18 August 2022

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Acquisition of Garadagh and Xarxar geological exploration data, studies and reports

Exploration work commences at Xarxar

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM-listed gold, copper and silver producer primarily focused in Azerbaijan, is pleased to announce the acquisition of exploration data and associated studies and reports from AzerGold. The data relate to the Garadagh and Xarxar contract areas ("Contract Areas"), two of Anglo Asian's new concessions, which were granted to the Company following the recently received parliamentary ratification, with AzerGold having been the previous concession holder. The acquisition of these Contract Areas is transformational for Anglo Asian and underpins its strategic objective to transition into a copper-focused mining company with mid-tier production status. It also allows the Company to complete its 3 to 5 year development plan.

The data acquired includes geochemical and geophysical data, including maps and interpretative reports. Substantial core drilling and data interpretation has been carried out for the Contract Areas by Azergold and include 9,645 chemical assays taken from 23,454 metres of Garadagh drill core and 805 assays taken from 4,923 metres of Xarxar drill core. Anglo Asian will also receive an initial mining scoping study for Garadagh based on a preliminary mineral resource estimate with various options for mine development including open pit designs, initial mining schedules and an outline metallurgical flow sheet. An environmental and socio-economic baseline assessment has also been carried out at Garadagh and is included in the material.

Anglo Asian has agreed to pay US$3.3 million for the data for Garadagh and US$0.7 million for Xarxar. 25 per cent. of the fees (US$1.0 million) is payable immediately, with the further 75 per cent. (US$3.0 million) payable after three years, or if earlier for each respective deposit, the balance of the purchase price on the approval of the Company's development and production programme for the deposit in accordance with the Company's Production Sharing Agreement. The cost of the data will be added to the operating and capital costs of the Contract Areas and be deductable in calculating profit production.

The Company will now undertake a detailed review of all available data to evaluate the best approach to develop all of its new deposits. Once completed, this strategy will be announced to the market to achieve a mid-tier production profile. A programme is planned for any confirmatory drilling required to verify the data for Garadagh.

In addition to this data acquisition, initial exploration has commenced at the Xarxar deposit. This is proceeding at pace to get the development underway. An exploration adit has been constructed at Xarxar and tunnelling has begun. A core drill programme is also being planned for Xarxar.

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri, commented:  

"We are pleased to have reached agreement with Azergold to acquire this data, which is another milestone in our development of the new concession areas. We will soon begin a detailed geological analysis of Garadagh and Xarxar. This will enable our team to formulate the best approach to developing these assets which we look forward to announcing to the market once finalised."

**ENDS**

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, which was incorporated into UK law by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, until the release of this announcement.

For further information please contact:

Reza Vaziri	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: [phone]
Bill Morgan	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: [phone]
Stephen Westhead	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: [phone]
Ewan Leggat Adam Cowl	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Broker	Tel: [phone]
Charlie Jack Harry Griffiths	Hudson Sandler	Tel: [phone]

Notes to editors:

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 produced 64,610 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs") for the year ended 31 December 2021. 

In December 2021, the Company undertook a private placement which acquired 19.8 per cent. of Libero Copper & Gold Corporation ("Libero"). The transaction was completed in January 2022. Libero is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange in Canada and owns, or has the option to acquire, several copper exploration properties in North and South America, including Mocoa in Colombia, one of the world's largest undeveloped copper-molybdenum resources.   

On 5 July 2022, the Government of Azerbaijan ratified amendments to its Production Sharing Agreement, granting Anglo Asian three additional concessions totalling a combined area of 882 square kilometres. This includes the Garadagh porphyry copper deposit, with a Soviet classified resource of over 300,000 tonnes of copper. The acquisition of these concessions is transformational to Anglo Asian's asset portfolio and underpins the strategic target of transitioning into a mid-tier copper focused miner.

https://www.angloasianmining.com/

 

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