Anglo Asian Mining PLC on March 14 released reserve and resource reports in accordance with the Australasian Joint Ore Reserves Committee Code, a mineral reporting standard, for the underground Gadir mine forming part of its Gedabek operation in western Azerbaijan.
The maiden JORC-compliant estimates for Gadir complete the JORC classification of the company's producing assets. The mine is about 1 kilometer from the main open pit at Gedabek and has been in production since 2015.
The Gadir estimate corresponds with the one Anglo Asian released in February comprising proven and probable reserves containing 70,000 ounces of gold, 304,000 ounces of silver and 1,387 tonnes of copper within measured and indicated resources containing 145,200 ounces of gold, 736,100 ounces of silver, 3,295 tonnes of copper and 14,470 tonnes of zinc.
Reza Vaziri, CEO of the gold, silver and copper producer listed on London's Alternative Investment Market, said further exploration of Gadir is continuing with a view to enhance the maiden estimate.
Separately, Anglo Asian released a complete JORC-compliant reserve and resource estimate for the Gedabek open pit, scheduling a five-year mine life until 2024, which includes blending ore from other mines.
Gebadek reserves and resources were unchanged from September 2018, when they were reported to comprise proven and probable reserves containing 343,000 ounces of gold, 36,000 tonnes of copper and 3.5 million ounces of silver within measured and indicated resources containing 796,000 ounces of gold, 53,700 tonnes of copper and 6.8 million ounces of silver.
The company recently increased mining excavation capacity at Gedabek with two new excavators, and a program to improve blasting fragmentation is yielding positive results.
Exploration drilling continues on the margins of the open pit, targeting copper mineralization with a view to future expansion. Underground and surface drilling is planned to examine the possibility of further underground mining.
"The reserves provide sufficient mine life for continued evaluation of the Gadir to Gedabek underground mine potential, and an exploration window to bring further mineralization to resource and reserve level from the pipeline of known mineral deposits and occurrences from within the Gedabek contract area," Director of Geology and Mining Stephen Westhead said.