The first stage of the two-stage expansion of the Gadabay tailings dam was completed in 2024, the second stage is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2025, Report informs referring to the company's statement.
"We received, on August 5, 2024, authorization from the Government of Azerbaijan to raise our tailings dam wall at Gedabek. The first raise of 2.5 meters was completed in November with the full raise on schedule to be completed in the second half of 2025. We have also returned to full production with the agitation leaching processing plant and flotation processing fully restarting in the fourth quarter. The plants are processing ore from our existing mines and stockpiles until ore is available from Gilar.
We are proud to be committed to implementing the Global Industry Standards on Tailings Management ('GISTM') across our operations and we will continue to work towards full alignment with these standards, aiming to confirm our full compliance with these standards by the end of 2026," the company noted.
The tailings dam wall will be raised by 7 meters to provide sufficient capacity for storing ore processing waste for 2-3 years of production. The lifting is planned to be carried out in two stages.
The PSA contract was signed on August 21, 1997, and provided for the development of six deposits. Azerbaijan's share in the contract is 51%, Anglo Asian Mining Plc. - 49%.
AAM holds the rights to develop eight contract areas in Azerbaijan, but so far it is extracting precious metals only at two.