Volume of gold production in first phase of Chovdar field announced

A total of 243,400 ounces of gold was produced in the first phase - the oxide phase of the Chovdar deposit located in the Dashkasan district, Zakir Ibrahimov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AzerGold CJSC, said at the press conference dedicated to the results of 2023 and future tasks held today, Report informs.

According to him, the second phase of the Chovdar deposit - sulphide phase and side deposits - has been launched: "According to the properties that affect the extraction of the useful component, ores are classified into two types: oxide and sulfide ores. Oxide ores are formed by the weathering of sulphide ores as a result of natural processes, and the gold and silver contained in them are relatively free. At the same time, there are intermediate ores between oxide and sulfide ores, which are called transit ores in the scientific literature."

Ibrahimov noted that the extraction of gold and silver from oxide ores is carried out on the basis of HLP - Heap leach pad method, with a certain amount of crushing and solution precipitation: "However, this processing method is not economically profitable, as the rate of gold recovery is low - it is about 50% during the application of this method in partial transit (oxide-sulphide mixed ores) and especially in sulphide ores. For this reason, transit and sulphide ores are first required to be artificially excavated. Only after that it is possible to settle the gold and ensure a satisfactory yield."