Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Gold reserves have doubled in Azerbaijan due to deposits found in recent years, Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Huseyngulu Baghirov said in an interview to the official website of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party on September 4.

Baghirov said major advances in geological exploration work have been achieved in the last ten years. 192 deposits of various profiles were put on the balance in 25 regions of the country. The production process was organized by means of the gold deposits included in the balance sheet, and Azerbaijan joined the group of countries that produce gold.

Baghirov said that geophysical research methods in the Gadabay region defined high levels of platinum, gold, copper and zinc.

He noted that some advances have been achieved in the area of environmental protection. Revenues to the State Fund for Environmental Protection have increased more than eight-fold, reaching 1.8 million manats in the past decade.

In July, Anglo Asian Mining, a company extracting precious metals in resource-rich Azerbaijan, said it produced 93 tons of copper and 9,875 ounces of silver in the first quarter of this year.

The company produced 50,215 ounces of gold, 20,133 ounces of silver and 502 tons of copper from the Gadabay field in 2012.

Anglo Asian Mining, which is a cash generative and profitable gold and copper mining and exploration company, started gold and silver production in May 2009 and copper concentrate production in 2010 at the Gadabay mine.

In 2012, the company produced 50,215 ounces of gold, 20,133 ounces of silver and 502 tons of copper from the Gadabay field.

The company has the rights to develop six deposits in the south-west of Azerbaijan -- Gadabay, Ordubad, Gosha Bulag, Gyzyl Bulag, Vezhnali and Soyutlu, under a production sharing agreement signed in August 1997 with Azerbaijan's government.

The gold and silver produced there are sent to Switzerland for refining, and gold bars are delivered to the country and preserved by the government.