Exploration Update: Gedabek and Gosha

RNS Number : 3254X

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

29 April 2019

 

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

29 April 2019

Anglo Asian Mining plc

Gedabek and Gosha Contract Areas

Helicopter Survey Identified Multiple New Targets at Gedabek

Additional Mineralisation confirmed at the Gedabek Open Pit

 New Copper-Gold Discovery at Gosha

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company") the AIM listed gold, copper and silver producer focused in Azerbaijan, is pleased to provide a summary of its successful 2018 geological exploration activities at its Gedabek ("Gedabek") and Gosha ("Gosha") Contract Areas.  A detailed report of the Company's 2018 exploration work programme and results reported according to the JORC Code (2012) can be found on its website www.angloasianmining.com/operations. A separate report has also been released today summarising the results of the helicopter-borne geophysics survey which was originally announced on 21 November 2018.

Highlights 

Gedabek

·     Completed a 3,385 linear kilometre helicopter-borne electromagnetic and magnetic survey which successfully identified multiple highly promising and prospective mineral targets - a summary of the results of this survey has been separately released today

·     Existence confirmed of further valuable mineable copper and gold extensions through drilling at the northern and southern margins of the current Gedabek open pit

o  Increased ore footprint will be included in the 2019 Gedabek Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves update, in accordance with the JORC Code

·     Confidence increased in the production profile at Gadir following drilling which confirmed the continuation of the orebody down-dip and potentially along strike

·     Additional mineable mineralisation confirmed beneath the Gedabek open pit which will be the subject of further underground evaluation

Gosha

·     New discovery of polymetallic mineralisation from drilling at the Asrikchay target ("Asrikchay") area which is situated seven kilometres north of the existing Gosha underground mine

o  Significant polymetallic drill-hole intersection found with weighted grade averages from 228.70 metres to 233.00 metres (4.30 metre downhole thickness) of 4.11 grammes per tonne of gold, 112.23 grammes per tonnes of silver, 3.07 per cent copper and 3.02 per cent zinc

·     Completed preliminary follow-up surface geophysics over Asrikchay to identify zone geometry

o  Results and interpretation expected in due course

Anglo Asian Director of Geology & Mining, Stephen Westhead, commented, "This is the first year that the Company has reported exploration results according the JORC (2012) Code. The most significant exploration activity at Gedabek in 2018 was the ZTEM geophysical survey, a first for the Company and Azerbaijan. A summary of the results of the survey is being separately released today and we are now starting the investigation of anomaly target areas with ground based geological exploration. Other work included the completion of new Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves statements for the Gedabek open pit and Gadir mine, which revealed open areas for further work. Additional mineralisation both around the margins and below the Gedabek open pit has also been identified.

"The polymetallic discovery at the Asrikchay area of Gosha was also a very exciting discovery. It is the first of this mineral style identified at Gosha and the first indication of the presence of copper in the region.

"Exploration continues to underpin the future production and growth of the Company. The current exploration activities are already yielding significant results and I look forward to further updating our shareholders on the results of our efforts in the future"

Objectives of the 2018 Exploration Programme

The geological programme in 2018 formed part of a rolling three-year exploration plan, designed to achieve the following main objectives:

·     To establish the gold and copper-gold distribution of the Gedabek open pit and update the resource and reserve estimate.

·     To assess the extent of the further mineralisation of the Gadir underground mine and confirm ongoing mineable ore through the publication of a resource and reserve estimate, in accordance with the JORC Code.

·     To commence exploration of the mineral potential below the Gedabek main open pit from underground.

·     To bring new mineral occurrence targets into the resource and reserve pipeline.

·     To identify new areas of mineralisation and targets which can be fast tracked into production as stand-alone mines.

Overview of Exploration Activity in 2018

Gedabek

Gedabek Regional

·     3,385 kilometres of airborne ZTEM and magnetic geophysics completed on a 200-metre east-west line spacing.

·     2 surface diamond core holes over the AC area (located about 1.5 kilometres west of the Company's heap leach processing area) ("AC") completed totalling 1,177 metres.

·     3 surface reverse circulation holes over AC totalling 587 metres.

·     25 outcrop samples collected over the Duzyurd area.

Gedabek open pit (and underground)

·     58 surface diamond core holes completed totalling 5,947 metres.

·     208 surface reverse circulation holes completed totalling 11,340 metres.

·     7 underground diamond core holes completed totalling 655 metres.

·     718 metres of tunnel development completed from the Gadir Decline to below Gedabek 'Pit 4'. This will create drilling platforms to better assess the potential for underground development of the Gedabek deposit.

Gadir

·     19 surface diamond core holes completed totalling 8,953 metres.

·     43 underground diamond core holes (HQ/NQ in size) completed totalling 4,735 metres.

·     An additional 105 BQ-size underground core drill-holes completed totalling 2,838 metres.

·     2,703 metres of underground geological mapping from the mine tunnels completed.

·     Surface induced polarisation ("IP") and ground magnetics over the Gadir footprint completed covering 3.7 square kilometres - results expected shortly.

Ugur

·     12 surface diamond core holes completed totalling 3,875 metres.

·     650 outcrop samples collected.

·     250 linear metres of trenching, with 215 samples obtained.

·     40,000 square metres of detailed geological (lithological, alteration and structural) mapping completed.

Sӧydülü

·     146 outcrop samples collected.

·     8 stream sediment samples collected.

Gosha

First phase exploration activity at the Asrikchay target, which is situated 7 kilometres north of the existing underground mine at Gosha, included:

·     8 surface core drill-holes completed totalling 2,737 metres.

·     37 outcrop samples collected at Asrikchay.

·     Ground geophysics undertaken covering 1.4 square kilometres - results expected soon.

·     1 surface core drill-hole at Gosha mine area.

·     507 outcrop samples collected at the Gosha mine area

Exploration Outlook for 2019

Exploration work is progressing well according to the overall three-year strategy. Further work defining the ore at Gedabek underground will commence, as well as lateral and down-dip definition at Gadir. Results from the ZTEM survey are being used to identify regions around Gedabek that can be followed up with geochemical soil campaigns, ground geophysics, outcrop sampling and surface drilling. Results from the ground-based geophysics at Gadir and Asrikchay will also assist to target follow-up drilling.

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 Director of Geology & Mining, who is a Fellow of The Geological Society of London, a Chartered Geologist, Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists, Member 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 resources and reserves included in this announcement.

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 until the release of this announcement.

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.angloasianmining.com or 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	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Broker	Tel: [phone]
Soltan Tagiev	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP Nominated Adviser and Broker	Tel + 44 (0) 20 3470 0470
Isabel de Sal	St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Gaby Jenner	St Brides Partners Ltd	Tel: [phone]

Notes:

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 has a 1,962 square kilometre portfolio, assembled from analysis of historic Soviet geological data and held under a Production Sharing Agreement modelled on the Azeri oil industry.

The Company's main operating location is the Gedabek contract area ("Gedabek") which is a 300 square kilometre area in the Lesser Caucasus mountains in western Azerbaijan. The Company developed Azerbaijan's first modern operating gold/copper/silver mine at Gedabek which commenced gold production in May 2009. Mining at Gedabek was initially from its main open pit, which is an open cast mine with a series of interconnected pits.

The Company also operates the high grade Gadir underground mine, which is co-located at the Gedabek site. In September 2017, production commenced at the Ugur open pit mine, a recently-discovered gold ore deposit at Gedabek. The Company has a second underground mine, Gosha, which is 50 kilometres from Gedabek. Ore mined at Gosha is processed at Anglo Asian's Gedabek plant.

The Company produced 83,736 gold equivalent ounces ('GEOs') for the year ended 31 December 2018. Gedabek is a polymetallic ore deposit that has gold together with significant concentrations of copper in the main open pit mine, and an oxide gold-rich zone at Ugur. The Company therefore employs a series of flexible processing routes to optimise metal recoveries and efficiencies. The Company produces gold doré through agitation and heap leaching operations, copper concentrate from its Sulphidisation, Acidification, Recycling, and Thickening (SART) plant and also a copper and precious metal concentrate from its flotation plant. A second dedicated crusher line has been commissioned and is now in operation for the flotation plant to enable it to operate independently of the agitation leaching plant.

The Company has forecast metal production for FY 2019 of between 82,000 to 86,000 gold equivalent ounces ("GEOs"). Of the forecast production for FY 2019, between 28,000 to 30,000 GEOs is in the form of copper and gold flotation concentrate.

Anglo Asian is also actively seeking to exploit its first mover advantage in Azerbaijan to identify additional projects, as well as looking for other properties in order to fulfil its expansion ambitions and become a mid-tier gold and copper metal production company.

 

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