Azerbaijan, one of the richest in precious metals deposits countries in Eurasia, has increased gold and silver mining.
The country produced 5,669 kg of gold in January-November, up 3.2-fold YoY.
The State Statistics Committee reported that the extraction of silver increased by 67.9%, amounting to 566.800 kg.
The stocks of finished goods, as of December 1, amounted to 63.5 kg of gold and 73.5 kg of silver.
Gold is mostly produced in Dashkasan (AzerGold CJSC) and in Gadabay (Anglo-Asian Mining, Britain).
The state-owned company AzerGold was established on February 11, 2015. The company uses new technologies in exploration, development and management of non-ferrous metal deposits, modernization of the material and technical sources and their effective use, as well as other work for developing this sphere.
The first gold and silver export of AzerGold CJSC was carried out in May, selling 66 gold alloys, 16,000 ounces of which were gold, 24,000 ounces – silver. The first export batch brought the country’s income in the amount of $20.1 million.
Overall, Anglo Asian Mining PLC has the right to develop six fields in south-west of Azerbaijan: Gadabay, Ordubad, Gosha Bulag, Gizil Bulag, Vejnali and Soyutlu, in accordance with the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) signed between RV Investment Group Services and the government of Azerbaijan.
The share of Azerbaijan in the contract is 51%, of the Anglo Asian Mining Plc. – 49%.
As a whole, it is planned to extract 400 tons of gold from these six deposits, in accordance with the contract.
The gold and silver produced there are sent to Switzerland for refining, and gold bars are delivered to the country and preserved by the government.
The extraction of the first gold began in 2009 from the Gadabay field, the extraction of silver – in 2010.
About 900 fields were registered in Azerbaijan’s state and territorial balance of reserves of mineral resources. The Ministry for Ecology and Natural Recourses estimates that the country is able to produce about 10-15 tons of gold per year.
As much as 2.1 tons of gold, 5.3 tons of silver and 1.94 tons of copper concentrate were produced at the Gadabay field in 2016. (Trend/Ukrainian metal)