Development of Future Mines Update

RNS Number : 9890E

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

02 November 2022

 

2 November 2022

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Development of Future Mines & Geological Exploration Progressing at Pace

Anglo Asian Mining PLC ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM listed gold, copper and silver producer focused in Azerbaijan, is pleased to provide an update on its development of new mines and associated geological progress.

  Highlights

Zafar - mine design well advanced and geotechnical assessment underway
o	Site of mine portal determined, situated close to existing processing facilities
o	13 geotechnical diamond drill holes for a total length of 1,664 metres completed over the planned ramp, providing information for tunnelling, which is scheduled to commence in December 2022
o	Mining fleet identified and vendor financing under negotiation
o	Mining method provisionally determined as sub-level caving
Gilar - underground exploration to commence
o	Thirty surface diamond drill holes for a total of 9,581.3 metres have been completed over the Gilar district during YTD 2022
o	Analysis of samples is being fast-tracked through the AIMC laboratory with results expected shortly
o	Surface magnetic, induced polarisation (IP) geophysics is underway and additional drilling will be conducted in Q4 2022
o	Mineralisation modelling for a maiden Mineral Resource Estimate is well advanced and expected to be published by end Q4 2022
o	The development of an exploration tunnel to access the mineralisation, which can also be used for production, is planned to commence in November 2022
Vejnaly - excellent gold and copper grades returned
o	Geological exploration well underway with small-scale mining commencing in Q4 2022
o	Underground vein sampling collected 230 samples with a total length of 117 metres, including six channel samples with assays ranging from 51 to 104 g/t of gold
o	New gold mineralisation zone discovered in the north-west of the mine area

All these deposits provide future resources to extend mid-term production.  Additionally, a significant pipeline of exploration targets contribute to the Company's valuable project portfolio.

Anglo Asian Vice-President, Stephen Westhead commented:

"The development of new mines and exploration has been progressing well at a number of sites. These new mines are planned to provide future sustainable gold and copper production until the major ramp up of copper production at Garadagh.

At Zafar, drilling and geotechnical assessment is now complete for the portal area and ramp layout to access the orebody. Metallurgical testwork on the Zafar ores is also well advanced. Mine design is nearing completion.

Drilling at the Gilar deposit has identified three main zones of copper mineralisation. Independent geological modelling of these zones and mineral resource estimation is planned for Q4 2022. Given the depth of drilling (approximately 450 metres), a plan for underground access suitable for both exploration and production has been developed. A large-scale ground-based magnetic and induced polarisation (IP) geophysics programme is underway over the deposit area to test for extensions of the open mineralisation. 

The Vejnaly project is progressing at pace with the mining and geology teams evaluating the deposit from underground. Initial channel sampling has yielded significant grades of gold in the walls of the tunnels and stopes.

The data for XarXar and Garadagh have been received from Azergold, following the acquisition of these new contract areas. Data validation in relation to both deposits is ongoing. I look forward to reporting on these new contract areas later in the year.

All these deposits provide future resources to extend mid-term production. Garadagh hosting a Soviet classified resource of over 300,000 tonnes of in-situ copper provides the longer-term major copper potential. Additionally, a significant pipeline of exploration targets contribute to the Company's outstanding project portfolio."

Development Projects Overview

The Company is making excellent progress on the development of its future new mines. Zafar, Gilar and Vejnaly, are planned to provide copper and gold production in the medium term for at least the next four to five years, until forecast production of copper from Garadagh commences.

Zafar

The development of the Zafar deposit hosting JORC Mineral Resources of 28,000 tonnes of copper, 73,0000 ounces of gold and 36,000 tonnes of zinc (see RNS 21 March 2022) is progressing well.

Geotechnical evaluation for mine construction planning is well advanced. 13 geotechnical diamond drill holes for a total length of 1,664 metres have been drilled and are being laboratory tested. The tests relate to rock strength and include uniaxial compressive tests and point-load tests for the purpose of providing geotechnical data for the design of the mine portal and decline. A site for the portal has been identified close to the Company's existing processing facilities at Gedabek and about 1,000 metres from the mineralisation, which will be accessed via a decline ramp.

Mine design is progressing well. A preliminary mining method study has indicated semi-bulk extraction by sub-level caving is likely to be the optimum mining method. Stope design has commenced. The proposed stope design and the geotechnical data will be used by the Company's external mining consultants to design the underground tunnels and infrastructure.

Underground equipment has been selected, with the major drilling equipment being supplied by Epiroc and the mining and loading equipment by Caterpillar. Auxiliary equipment is being sourced from a range of local and international suppliers. Negotiations are well underway with Caterpillar to provide vendor finance.

Gilar

Gilar is a mineral occurrence located in the Gedabek contract area approximately seven kilometres from the Company's processing facilities. The area hosts two styles of mineralisation, gold in quartz veins and hydrothermal gold-copper. Three coherent mineralisation zones have been discovered at the occurrence at a depth of about 300 metres. 

Thirty surface diamond drill holes for a total of 9,581.3 metres have been completed over the Gilar district during YTD 2022. Analysis of samples is being fast-tracked through the AIMC laboratory with results expected shortly. Surface magnetic, induced polarisation (IP) geophysics is underway and additional drilling will be conducted in Q4 2022

All exploration data have been modelled in three dimensions using Leapfrog software. A maiden Mineral Resource Estimate is well advanced and expected to be published by end Q4 2022

An exploration tunnel into the deposit will be developed, starting in Q4 2022. The tunnel will also be used for future production and a site for the portal has already been identified.

Vejnaly

Work is now proceeding rapidly at Vejnaly following the establishment of a camp and facilities at the site earlier this year. An underground mining team is resident at the Vejnaly mine and is currently installing ladderways into existing stopes. This is to provide access to the stopes so the extent of mineralisation can be fully determined.

In YTD 2022, a total of 850 metres of underground geological mapping was carried out. 230 underground vein samples, 17 outcrop samples and 8 trench samples were collected at Vejnaly. Very high gold grades in vein intersection samples were encountered. Those samples returning gold grades of 50 grammes per tonne or greater are set out below:

Sample	Sample	Weighted average grades
I.D.	Length
		Gold	Silver	Copper
	Metres	g/t	g/t	%
BM1-43	0.35	51	46	0.6
BM4-1	0.45	81	25	0.6
BM-2	0.11	71	109	0.6
BM2RO5-01	0.22	75	307	0.1
BM2RO6-01	0.22	104	264	0.2
BM2R08-02	0.25	61	85	0.4

Small-scale mining from the Vejnaly underground mine will commence in Q4 2022.

A new gold-bearing zone hosted by hematite-quartz-kaolin mineralisation has been discovered in the north-west of the Vejnaly mine area by surface mapping. The host rock mostly exhibits silicification and kaolinization alteration which changes to quartz-haematite alteration in limestone. This area will be subject to further exploration.

Gedabek and Gosha

Geological exploration in the Gedabak area has been focused mainly on the Gilar and Zafar projects. While, at Gosha, tunnelling toward the Hasan Zone and Zone 5 is ongoing and stope access is providing areas for sampling. 

Garadagh and Xarxar

The Company is well underway in evaluating the data received from Azergold on its new XarXar and Garadagh concessions, which the Company believes hold massive potential and which underpin its ability to transform to mid-tier production status. As previously stated, the Company will update the market on these new licenses along with an overview of its growth strategy later in 2022.

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 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 the Company's Production Sharing Agreement which granted it three additional concessions with a combined area of 882 square kilometres, including the Garadagh porphyry copper deposit, with a Soviet classified resource of over 300,000 tonnes of copper.

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 Vice-President, who is a Fellow of The Geological Society of London, a Chartered Geologist, Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists, Fellow 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 mineral resources included in this announcement.

 

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