LONDON (Alliance News) - Anglo Asian Mining PLC on Tuesday said results from an updated mineral resource estimate at its Gedabek open pit mine show the life of the pit could be extended by up to six years.
Shares in Anglo Asian were up 6.9% at 53.45 pence on Tuesday in response.
"The economically mineable ore reserves remaining in the open pit mine amount to over 343,000 ounces of gold and more than 36,000 tonnes of copper, which will extend the life of the main pit for a further five to six years," said Anglo Asian Chief Executive Reza Vaziri.
Testing at the Gedabek pit mine, which is located in western Azerbaijan, put the total gold and copper mineral resource at 985,697 ounces of gold, 63,375 tonnes of copper, and 8.2 million ounces of silver. The cut-off grade is 0.3 grams per tonne of gold.
At that same grade, the measured-plus-indicated mineral resource of the pit is 796,269 ounces of gold, 53,676 tonnes of copper, and 6.8 million ounces of silver. The proved-and-probable reserves at Gedabek total 343,160 ounces of gold, 36,011 tonnes of copper, and 3.5 million ounces of silver at the same grade.
At a gold grade below 0.3 grams per tonne, the pit's mineral resource is 24,914 ounces of gold, 32,606 tonnes of copper and 426,453 ounces of silver.
"This resource and reserve study identifies areas of mineralisation extension for further exploration. Importantly, the reserves provide sufficient mine life for a study of the open pit to be undertaken to enable a smooth transition of the Gedabek deposit to underground methods, should underground mining be proved economic," said Stephen Westhead, Anglo Asian's geology & mining group director.
Anglo Asian (AAZ)