Azerbaijan allows British company to raise wall of its existing tailings dam in Gadabay

Anglo Asian Mining plc, the AIM-listed gold, copper and silver producer focused in Azerbaijan, has announced that its subsidiary, Azerbaijan International Mining Company Limited (AIMC), has received technical confirmation and a positive environmental report from the Government of Azerbaijan that its tailing dam wall is suitable for a final raise, Report informs referring to AAM.

The permission to begin construction is subject to certain administrative formalities by the Government which are expected to be completed shortly.

As previously announced, the Company has applied for Government permission to raise the wall of its existing tailings dam which is almost full. A further 7-meter raise will be carried out, taking the wall to its final design height. The raise will be carried out in two stages, with the first raise of 2.5 meters completed approximately three months after permission is obtained.

A tailings dam is a technological facility with a soil dam where enrichment waste, tailings are stored: a mixture of crushed rock, water and residual reagents. Independent international consultancy Micon conducted a health, safety and environmental review of the Gadabay tailings facility in July 2023 to ensure the site does not pose a risk to local residents and company employees. The testing did not reveal any air quality problems and no cyanide was found in any soil samples exceeding analytical detection limits.

The PSA type contract was signed on August 21, 1997 and provided for the development of 6 fields. Azerbaijan’s share in the contract is 51%, Anglo Asian Mining PLC - 49%. Currently, AAM owns the rights to develop eight contract areas in Azerbaijan, but is currently extracting precious metals from two contract areas - Gadabay and Gosha.