Gold/ Copper & Gold Mineral Occurrences discovered

RNS Number : 0603S

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

04 November 2019

 

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

4 November 2019

Anglo Asian Mining plc

New Gold / Copper and Gold Mineral Occurrences discovered within its Gedabek Contract Area

Avshancli and Gilar

Anglo Asian Mining plc ("Anglo Asian" or the "Company"), the AIM listed gold, copper and silver producer focused in Azerbaijan, is pleased to announce discovery of a new gold-copper mineral occurrence, "Avshancli" and a new gold mineral occurrence "Gilar" in its northeast region of its Gedabek Contract Area ("Gedabek CA") in western Azerbaijan. These discoveries are a result of the Company's regional exploration field mapping programme that is concentrating on following-up structural trends as focused by the ZTEM geophysics programme.  A detailed report on Avshancli and Gilar can be found at the following links https://www.angloasianmining.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/New_Discovery_Announcement_Avshancli-FILE_1.pdf, https://www.angloasianmining.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/New_Discovery_Announcement_Gilar-FILE_2.pdf and on the Company's website (www.angloasianmining.com).

Overview

Avshancli

·    Gold-copper mineral occurrence approximately 10.5 kilometres northeast of the Company's Gedabek open pit operation

·    Discoveries made through follow-up on field mapping between two ZTEM targets

·    Three zones of mineralisation:

o Two gold-copper zones (Avshancli-1 and Avshancli-2)

o One copper-gold zone (Avshancli-3)

·    Copper present in outcrop surface samples taken over the district, yielding grades of up to 3.56 per cent., in conjunction with good gold grades

·    Trench sampling at Avshancli-1 include 7.0 metres at 3.60 grammes per tonne gold and 0.40 per cent. copper (from 4.0 metres), and 1.0 metre at 8.85 grammes per tonne gold

·    Soil geochemical exploration planned over Avshancli-1 to define mineral zoning

·    Core drilling has commenced at Avshancli-1 - awaiting assay results but some core samples show visual mineralisation

Gilar

·    Gold mineralisation occurrence two kilometres south of the Avshancli-1 mineral occurrence

·    Mineral occurrence is a continuous quartz vein, with a surface strike length of around 500 metres

·    Preliminary field mapping completed upon discovery

·    72 outcrop samples obtained both of the quartz vein and surrounding host rock

·    Two outcrops of mineralisation, with a 'blind zone' in between the two

·    Significant gold intercepts include 11.84 grammes per tonne of gold from the North Zone and 16.02 grammes per tonne gold from the South Zone.

Reza Vaziri, CEO, commented: "We are delighted to report the discovery of the two additional mineral occurrences within the Gedabek contract area, Avshancli and Gilar. These discoveries demonstrate our belief in the further potential of the Gedabek contract area and the effectiveness of our geological exploration programme.

 "The Company is evaluating the work necessary to produce JORC estimates of the new discoveries and to determine the best way to commercially exploit them and I look forward to updating shareholders on our progress."

Stephen Westhead, Director of Geology and Mining, commented: "The two discoveries were a result of the follow-up ZTEM field geological mapping and surface outcrop and float sampling programme carried out in the third quarter of 2019.

"Avshancli is another exciting discovery in the Gedabek contract area. The discovery consists of three zones, all of which show the presence of gold and copper mineralisation. Surface geological work and trenching over the area has given highly encouraging results. Drilling has begun at Avshancli-1 and we are awaiting assay results. However, mineralisation can be visually seen in lengths of core from both drill holes. We are now working towards mapping the three-dimensional geology of the area.

"Gilar is also an exciting quartz vein discovery. Outcrop sampling has returned excellent gold grade results and we are proceeding to implement a drill programme to further define the discovery."

Avshancli

Background

Anglo Asian's in-house exploration group has defined a new mineral district named Avshancli, approximately 10.5 kilometres northeast of the Company's Gedabek open pit. It is located in the Maskhit area, near the village of Slavyanka. The mineral district was defined as part of the geological exploration programme from the follow-up of field mapping between ZTEM targets. Due to the significance of the discovery, geological exploration of the area has been fast-tracked since the beginning of October 2019.

The Avshancli district dominantly comprises of Bajocian volcaniclastic strata, typically andesitic tuffs and breccias. Structures typically trend in a northwest direction and alteration mapping over the region has identified various styles, including clay, haematitic and limonitic alteration, as well as silicification.

Surface geological results

A total of 451 outcrop sampling assays have so far been taken over the entire district, with high grades clustered around Avshancli-1, -2 and -3, leading to their demarcation from the regional work. These areas returned good gold grades, of up to 33.47 grammes per tonne, and copper grades, of up to 3.56 per cent. Copper mineralisation identified during sampling includes malachite and azurite, commonly found along fracture planes in outcrop.

Two trenches have been dug and sampled at Avshancli-1. Significant mineralised intercepts include 7.0 metres at 3.60 grammes per tonne gold and 0.40 per cent. copper (from 4.0 metres), and 1.0 metre at 8.85 grammes per tonne gold (from 161.8 metres; both from Trench 1). Trench 2 also yielded 4.4 metres at 0.62 grammes per tonne gold from 82.8 metres.

Two further trenches have been dug and sampled at Avshancli-2 (one trench) and Avshancli-3 (one trench). Assaying is currently underway and will be reported as part of the Q4 2019 Gedabek exploration update.

Drilling programme

Diamond core drilling has commenced at Avshancli-1 and assays are awaited. Massive sulphide mineralisation was seen in drill core between 110 to 135 metres in one hole, whilst the second drill hole intercepted massive sulphide mineralisation between 42 to 64 metres. Assaying is currently underway and will be reported as part of the Q4 2019 Gedabek exploration update.

Gilar

Background

Gilar was discovered as a result of fieldwork which was being undertaken over the region. It is located approximately two kilometres south of Avshancli-1. Preliminary field mapping and outcrop sampling has established that Gilar is a continuous quartz vein, hosted in rhyolitic volcanics. The quartz vein emplacement appears to be located in association with a previously mapped fault structure. The vein strikes between 320-330°, which is the general trend of faulting mapped in the region. The vein has been found to outcrop in two areas, with a 'blind zone' occurring between these. The quartz vein can be traced for a total of around 500 metres (including the 'blind zone') and has a measured dip at surface between 80-85° to the north-east. The thickness varies between around 0.3 to 1.0 metres.

Surface geological results

A total of 72 outcrop sampling assays were taken over the entire area. 35 of these returned gold grades, with 14 samples having elevated gold grades in the range of 3.21 to 11.84 grammes per tonne. One sample returned a gold grade of 16.02 grammes per tonne.

Drilling programme

The planning of a programme of core drilling of the mineral occurrence is now underway.

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'; who is a Member or Fellow of a 'Recognised Professional Organisation' (RPO) included in a list that is posted on the ASX website from time to time (Chartered Geologist and Fellow of the Geological Society and Member of the Institute of Material, Minerals and Mining).

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 and consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

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	Tel + 44 (0) 20 3470 0470
Camilla Horsfall	Blytheweigh Financial	Tel: [phone]
Megan Ray	Blytheweigh Financial	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 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.

The Company has forecast production for FY 2019 of between 82,000 to 86,000 GEOs.

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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