New High Grade Gold Discovered at Gedabek Mine

RNS Number : 3619U

Anglo Asian Mining PLC

02 December 2013

 



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

2 December 2013

Anglo Asian Mining plc ('Anglo Asian' or 'the Company')

New High Grade Gold Discovered at Gedabek Mine, Azerbaijan

Anglo Asian Mining plc, the AIM listed gold producer in Azerbaijan, is pleased to announce a positive exploration update from additional drilling undertaken at its flagship Gedabek gold, copper, silver  mine in western Azerbaijan.

Overview

·    Current c.3,000m drilling programme has discovered new high grade gold extension at Gedabek, north-west of the main Gedabek deposit (see map)

·    Elevated gold values received at newly completed core hole (106) - 1m interception 101 g/t Au (3.3 opt Au) from 313m to 314 m with 78 g/t Ag (2.5 opt Ag) and in composite 41m at 7.6g/t Au from 296m to 337m

·    Drill hole 107, c.20m south of hole 86 and 20 m south-west of hole 106 is currently being drilled to a target depth of approximately 445m to intercept the newly identified gold zone

·    An additional two drill holes are planned as part of the 2013 drill programme to further test the gold mineralisation of this newly discovered area

·    Validation assay results due for hole 106 by an outside laboratory should be available by 20 December 2013

·    Further drilling of the north-west area of Gedabek will continue if 2013 assay results continue to be favourable to test the gold prospectively of the target area with a view to increasing the total resource and reserve base of Gedabek

Please click the following link to view a map of the Gedabek deposit and drilling target areas.

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3619U_-2013-11-29.pdf

Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri said, "This identified extension of the northern portion of the Gedabek deposit has the potential to significantly increase the JORC resource of 1.12Moz of gold in the Measured and Indicated category and the reserve base of 744,038oz of gold at Gedabek, and in turn increase the mine life of our flagship mining operation in Azerbaijan. With this in mind, further drilling will continue at this new target area to help us determine the areal extent of this mineralisation."

Further Information

Anglo Asian's 26,842m resource drilling programme at Gedabek concluded in Q1 2013 and as a result an upgraded Measured and Indicated JORC compliant resource of 44,644,658 tonnes at 0.783 g/t of gold ('Au') for 1,123,767 ounces and a total JORC compliant resource of 51,591,901 tonnes at 0.754 g/t Au for 1,250,043 ounces Au, 0.155 % Cu for 80,036 tonnes and 5.915 g/t Ag for 9,811,719 ounces (at a cut-off grade of 0.3 g/t of gold) was announced.

Following this, as part of Anglo Asian's on-going exploration programme of Gedabek, the Company drilled seven drill holes, from January to June 2013, concentrating on the main Gedabek deposit and also outside of the main deposit area to improve the level of geological knowledge and define new target areas of high grade gold mineralisation. Of this seven hole programme, drill hole AIMCDD86, to the north-west of the northernmost trend of the mine, was drilled to a depth of 650 metres.  Drill hole AIMCDD86 exhibited alteration and high grade gold mineralization different to that of the main quartz porphyry gold-copper-silver Gedabek pit to the south-east of the contract area. The difference mineralogically includes zinc rich sphalarite in the gold enriched zones, plus the host rock seems to be a different variety of quartz porphyry volcanic to that being mined in the main Gedabek pits. This rock unit is thought to be equivalent to rocks beneath the Gedabek deposit but petrographic analysis is underway to confirm this hypothesis.

To test the continuity of themineralization exhibited at drill hole AIMCDDC86, an additional hole (AIMCDD106) was drilled 20 metres east of hole 86 to a depth of 349 metres in October 2013. There are two zones of significance in core hole 106.  The upper zone of mineralisation has 5m of 95 g/t (3.1 opt) silver at 234 to 238m and a lower zone that contains 41 metres at 7.6g/t of gold from 296 to 337m.  Within this lower zone, one metre of 101 g/t (3.3 opt) gold metres with 78.7 g/t (2.5 opt silver) occurs at 313 metres. 

This new area, 400 metres from the current pit, is informally called the Gadiz mineralisation, however should the deposit be extended, it will be likely be renamed Gedabek North.  The mineralisation is deeper than that currently mined at the main Gedabek deposit however its surface elevation is higher. The top elevation of the mineralised zone is 150 metres deeper than the top elevation of mineralisation in the northern portion of the main Gedabek pit, but truly could be considered an extension of Gedabek. In addition the fault slice is approximately 150 metres wide in the area tested so far and remains open to the east and west where drilling has not yet been undertaken. This mineralised fault block appears to be wedge-shaped, narrowing to the west toward a quartz porphyry surface exposure. The fault block containing the mineralization appears to broaden to several hundred metres to the east and remains untested. (see attached map).

The next drill hole in this area (AIMCDD107) is currently being drilled 20 metres to the south of AIMCDD86 to a target depth of approximately 445 metres.  To date, the drill is currently at a depth of 350 metres, but has been slow drilling due to the highly fractured conditions of the bedrock. The Company is confident that the hole will be successfully completed shortly.  Two other core holes (108 and 109) are planned for December 2013 to the west of hole AIMCDD86 for an additional 900 metres.  This will bring Gedabek's total exploration drilling for 2013 to c.3,220 metres.  From experience, AIMC has found at Gedabek that drilling closer spaced holes is more effective for deposit delineation than wider spaced drilling due to the pod-like nature of the Gedabek high mineralization zones.

If full results from the 2013 drilling campaign continue to be favourable, Anglo Asian will conduct further drilling of the north-west area of Gedabek with the intention of further testing the gold prospectively of the target area and increasing the resource and reserve base of Gedabek.

				CORE HOLE AIMCDD-106 ANALYSES BY SITE LABORATORY
Depth from	Depth to	m thick	Ag    (g/T)	Au    (g/T)	Cu   %	Depth from	Depth to	m thick	Ag    (g/T)	Au    (g/T)	Cu   %
233	234	1	14.07	4.96	0.04
234	235	1	129.27	36.19	0.47
235	236	1	112.13	16.17	1.43
236	237	1	106.80	12.86	1.94
237	238	1	112.93	13.05	1.34	233	238	5	95.04	16.65	1.04
238	239	1	41.78	18.21	0.98
239	240	1	35.74	22.79	1.41
240	241	1	33.25	6.09	1.26	238	241	3	36.92	15.70	1.22
						233	241	8	73.25	16.29	1.11
241	242	1	2.60	0.54	0.04
242	243	1	3.13	0.61	0.05
243	244	1	2.65	0.19	0.05
244	245	1	3.51	0.14	0.09
245	246	1	2.32	0.11	0.02
246	247	1	2.32	0.08	0.02
247	248	1	1.06	0.10	0.01
248	249	1	1.36	0.08	0.03
249	250	1	1.36	0.08	0.02
250	251	1	3.51	0.52	0.19	241	251	10	2.38	0.25	0.05
281	282	1	17.65	0.11	0.02
282	283	1	1.00	0.03	0.01
283	284	1	22.64	0.03	0.01
284	285	1	11.97	0.05	0.01	281	285	4	13.32	0.05	0.01
296	297	1	14.66	0.03	0.02
297	298	1	11.14	0.11	0.02
Depth from	Depth to	m thick	Ag    (g/T)	Au    (g/T)	Cu   %	Depth from	Depth to	m thick	Ag    (g/T)	Au    (g/T)	Cu   %
298	299	1	11.82	0.16	0.02
299	300	1	<10	0.09	0.01
300	301	1	13.3	0.07	0.01
301	302	1	18	0.10	0.01
302	303	1	14.38	0.10	2.00
303	304	1	17.26	0.14	0.01
304	305	1	18.32	0.09	0.01
305	306	1	20.88	0.11	0.01
306	307	1	12.86	0.05	0.01
307	308	1	10.12	0.11	0.01
308	309	1	9	0.17	0.01
309	310	1	6.78	0.17	0.01
310	311	1	10.26	5.37	0.04
311	312	1	10.8	3.59	0.11
312	313	1	5.28	7.44	0.10
313	314	1	78.72	101.24	0.24
314	315	1	29.88	65.12	0.15
315	316	1	9	3.73	0.06
316	317	1	5.94	3.44	0.09
317	318	1	3.36	8.90	0.10
318	319	1	0.58	6.17	0.06
319	320	1	4.24	13.64	0.11
320	321	1	30.8	14.77	0.21
321	322	1	27.86	19.41	0.25
322	323	1	11.72	4.95	0.06
323	324	1	5.72	4.38	0.03
324	325	1	5.72	4.38	0.03
325	326	1	6.52	2.59	0.04
326	327	1	6.52	2.59	0.04
327	328	1	9.62	5.36	0.11
328	329	1	9.62	5.36	0.11
329	330	1	12.74	6.02	0.11
330	331	1	12.74	6.02	0.11
331	332	1	<10	5.75	0.03
332	333	1	<10	5.75	0.03
333	334	1	33.42	0.68	0.06
334	335	1	33.42	0.68	0.06
335	336	1	21.88	0.73	0.02
336	337	1	21.88	0.73	0.02	296	337	41	14.31	7.57	0.11

All analyses were conducted at the mine site laboratory in accordance with QA/QC procedures for JORC inferred resource reporting, which included the incorporation of blanks and duplicates. Further validation under JORC will be available later this year as duplicates of these samples are being analysed by the external laboratory, ALS Chemex.

Mr. Sean Muller has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this announcement.  Mr. Muller is a Competent Person under JORC deposits of the type of Gedabek since 1983 and Gosha since the early 1990's. He has been involved in major gold discoveries that have gone into production since 1973. This experience, together with membership in AIPG since 1985, and Registered Member status with Society of Mining Engineers qualifies Mr. Muller as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves' and a 'qualified person' as defined in the Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies published by the London Stock Exchange in June 2009. 

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.angloasianmining.com or contact:

Reza Vaziri	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: [phone]
Sean Duffy	Anglo Asian Mining plc	Tel: [phone]
Ewan Leggat	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Tel: [phone]
Laura Littley	SP Angel Corporate Finance LLP	Tel: [phone]
Felicity Edwards	St Brides Media & Finance Ltd	Tel: [phone]
Lottie Brocklehurst	St Brides Media & Finance Ltd	Tel: [phone]

Notes:

Anglo Asian Mining plc (AIM:AAZ) is a gold producer in Central Asia with a broad portfolio of production and exploration assets in Azerbaijan.  The Company has a 1,962 sq km prospective exploration portfolio, assembled from analysis of historic Soviet geological data and held under a Production Sharing Agreement ('PSA') based on the Azeri oil industry.  The Company developed Azerbaijan's first operating gold/copper mine, Gedabek, which commenced gold production in May 2009.  Gold production for the year ended 31 December 2012 totalled 50,215 oz of gold.  2013 gold production will commence a ramping upward following the successful commissioning of the new agitation leaching plant at Gedabek in H1 2013.

Anglo Asian is actively looking to exploit its first producer advantage in Azerbaijan by developing additional projects, as well as looking for other properties in the Central Asia region to fulfil its expansion ambitions and become a mid-tier gold and base metal production company. 

 

END

 

 

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