AzerGold to commission 10 deposits by 2029

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

AzerGold CJSC deputy board chairman Khayam Farzaliyev has said that the company plans to commission 10 deposits by 2029, according to Trend.

He made the remarks during the presentation of the book "Exploration of minerals and fundamentals of the mining industry".

He noted that the exploration and research work is being carried out in several promising fields for this purpose.

"It is planned to commission four gold deposits, one polymetallic deposit, three copper deposits, and two iron ore deposits," he said.

Farzaliyev added that the company drilled 240,000 meters for the entire period of activity.

“The company’s metal reserves increased by 24 times up to 4.4 million ounces in gold equivalent in 2017,” Farzaliyev said.

Gold, silver export

Moreover, he mentioned that AzerGold has exported 287,000 ounces of gold and 530,000 ounces of silver to the international market since the beginning of its operation.

The company's official also stated that the revenues of Azerbaijan's state budget from the sale of precious metals for five years amounted to nearly AZN 757 million ($445.3m).

"Currently, at the Chovdar gold deposit, Dashkasan district, and the open gold deposits - Agekhush 1 and Marakh, work on transfer from the oxide to the sulfide phase is underway," he said.

He added that as a result of geological exploration work carried out by the company in the Dashakasan district last year, another potential gold deposit, Narimanli, has been discovered.

"Geological research is currently underway on this deposit," he said.

Non-ferrous metal deposits in liberated lands

Furthermore, Farzaliyev mentioned that work is underway in the country's liberated territories to study the potential of non-ferrous metal deposits.

He noted that this work is being carried out as part of the geological exploration program for the period 2021-2024.

"Hyper-spectral satellite images are also being processed, and the remote researches are being conducted in accordance with modern standards,” he said.

The company's official noted that in order to carry out drilling and other exploration work, the territories must be completely cleared of mines and unexploded ordnances.

He also noted that the company is working with the relevant government agencies to ensure that rich mineral resources become a driver for the sustainable development of the Azerbaijani economy.

“A clear evidence of this is the work within the project on updating the information archive of non-ferrous metal ore deposits operating in the country, carried out since 2018 by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, together with the National Geological Service,” he said.

He emphasized that the project’s goal is to study geological data on non-ferrous metal ore deposits, classify archival data, and digitalize geological data in accordance with international standards.

“Within the framework of this project, the data collected in the Soviet times on geological exploration - maps, texts and graphics - were digitalized, a database was created for each field in accordance with international standards," he said.

Additionally, he stated that the implementation of the above measures will increase the use efficiency of non-ferrous metal resources in Azerbaijan.

The presentation of the book was held in Baku with the participation of AzerGold deputy board chairman Khayam Farzaliyev, Ecology and Natural Resources' national geological exploration service head Ali Aliyev and State Agency for the Use of Mineral Resources board chairman Azer Shukurov.

The AzerGold CJSC is a national mining company, which was established on February 11, 2016, under the presidential decree. Earlier it was reported that last year, AzerGold produced 61,500 ounces of gold and 134,000 ounces of silver. The company's revenues from the sale of gold and silver in 2021 amounted to AZN 188.3 million ($110.7m)