Azerbaijan, Baku, May 18 / Trend A. Akhundov /
Anglo Asian Mining plc. is pleased to announce that it has agreed to a further loan from the International Bank of Azerbaijan for $7.5 million, the company said today.
The new loan will fund the early stages of construction of an agitation leaching plant to improve gold recoveries at the Company's flagship Gedabek gold/copper/silver mine in Azerbaijan with a view to commissioning in H2 2013, the message said.
Under the terms of the Agreement, an all inclusive annual interest rate of 12 percent will apply on funds drawn, payable on a quarterly basis. Repayment of the loan will be in 12 equal quarterly installments starting two years from the date that each tranche of funds is drawn down. There is no penalty for early repayment. The Company is in advanced discussions regarding additional debt funding and will update the market in due course, the message said.
The plant, which will be built on gold and copper mine Gadabay, is planned to be commissioned in the second half of 2013.
The total cost of the plant construction is expected to reach $52 million. The company is negotiating with local and international banks for them to give funds.
Anglo Asian Mining plc has already allocated $4 million to but the first equipment for the plant.
In 2011, the company significantly reduced its credit debt to $ 3.2 million (in 2010 it hit $25.6 million) and increased the amount of funds in bank accounts up to $ 9.8 million.
The plant will process ore and resources, not suitable for heap leaching - a method of obtaining gold from the ore, which is currently used in the field. The vat leaching technology allows for extracting more than 90 percent of the gold contained in the ore, whereas, the figure is about 70 percent while heap leaching. According to the preliminary estimates, gold recovery at the plant is expected to reach 85 percent of the oxide ore and 69 per cent - sulfide. However, the company continues conducting the tests to improve these indices. The new plant is designed to process 100 tons of ore per hour.
The Anglo Asian Mining Company has the rights to develop six deposits in the south-west of Azerbaijan - Gedabek, Ordubad, Gosha Bulag, Gyzyl Bulag, Vezhnali and Soyutlu based on a PSA type agreement signed in August 1997 with Azerbaijani government.
Gold produced at the deposits is sent for refinement to Switzerland. Bullions are brought to Azerbaijan and stored in the government's vaults. The first gold and silver was produced at the Gedabek deposit in May 2009.