Azerbaijan, Baku, May 14 / Trend A. Akhundov /
Anglo Asian Mining plc, the AIM listed gold producer, has received approval from the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources for the Development and Production Programme for its Gosha Gold Deposit ('Gosha') in Azerbaijan, the company said today.
"The Company aims to commence the development of Gosha into a small, profitable, high grade underground gold mine producing gold at an average rate of 10,000 to 15,000 ounces per annum for a period of up to five years," the message said.
Under the terms of the Production Sharing Agreement ("PSA"), the Company is required to commence development and production of Gosha within one year, as from April 25, 2012 unless otherwise agreed in writing between the parties to the PSA.
Given the Company's intention to construct an agitation leaching plant at the Company's flagship mining operation Gedabek, also in Azerbaijan, the Company intends to request that the Government of Azerbaijan agree that the commencement of the Development and Production Programme is delayed until H1 2013 so that the efforts of the Company can be focused on the agitation leaching plant construction.
At the same time, the Company aims to implement further drilling campaigns at Gosha in order to increase the economics of the proposed mine.
"Gosha, will be our second gold mine, following in the steps of our first, very successful mine, Gedabek, which is expected to produce circa 54,000 ounces this financial year," Anglo Asian CEO Reza Vaziri said. "Another deposit, Ordubad, where we recently announced a Notice of Discovery, is also looking very promising, and will, we hope, be developed into a third mining operation in the future."