Anglo Asian Mining Share Discussion Threads

[donald pond] 27/11/2020 06:54

Good find Matt. that Charteris Fund is very small, only around £30m, so it it has 900,000 shares here that will be close to a 3% position and any positive movement of AAZ versus the peer group will make it a top 10 position in its factlist.Feels like it's onwards and upwards from here.

[2sporrans] 27/11/2020 00:47

If there are 120 tonnes of gold in Sotk reserve [see post 41867],
that's 3,858,084 oz
Priced at $1500/oz, that's $5.787-Billion gross revenue.

Just to get some idea of scale.

[bozzy_s] 27/11/2020 00:42

This thread's back to its usual standard :)

Thanks to all for the recent posts. Looks like the bad news is out the way, with 2020 production around 10% below target. Given the unprecedented, extreme, circumstances that's a creditable performance.

We now have potentially a run of positive RNSs in the next few months:

Confirmation of Irish JV, adding around $1bn of gold to AAZ's resources

Special dividend if metal prices stay strong

Production update for Q4 2020 and target for 2021 (hoping for a nice surprise here)

Update on contract areas in recently recovered territories. Update on potential land corridor between Azer mainland and Ordubad / Nakhchivan


It feels like the shares are about 20-30p underpriced right now, given that the two biggest pressures - the war and 2020's production downgrade - have been resolved.

[mattjos] 26/11/2020 23:59

We have a new Institutional Investor onboard !Welcome from the thread to: DMS Charteris Gold & Precious Metals Fund with an opening position of 300,000 shares They declared on 30.09.20Fund fact sheet here ... AAZ position taken after this was published.https://www.charteris.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Gold-factsheet-Q3-2020.pdf

[aosullivan] 26/11/2020 23:58

Great posts here today. Thank you. These great posts help me to sleep soundly even as my business is in Tier4 lockdown?

[jbravo2] 26/11/2020 22:55

Btw it produced 130,000oz in 2018

[jbravo2] 26/11/2020 22:39

It’s hard to understand how important this is I know but it’s real

[jbravo2] 26/11/2020 22:37

The Russians won’t be there (on our side of the border) as it’s not part of the agreement. It’s Kalbajar not NK. Of course they may be there on the Armenian side. One (to Putin) small gold mine lost to a Russian company is neither here nor there compared to his greater gains in the region. Putin wrote the agreement!
This mine will be an important standard for Az and Aliyev to proclaim success for the liberated territories. It will come to us to make the best of it.

[wind dancer] 26/11/2020 22:32

OK Russian company/ Russian peace keepers/ legit Azeri asset.I think our contractual rights will be a long way down the pecking order.I would love it to be fabulous but...really?

[jbravo2] 26/11/2020 22:30

Let’s try link... yep seems to work...
This is where the ore gets processed. Perhaps ods can post a pic again please?
It is right the other side of Armenia. It goes by train. They lose 20% of their margin on transport. Crazy.

[jbravo2] 26/11/2020 22:24

Articles I’ve seen would suggest they were saying 18 years left on the mine but that was 4 years ago. So possibly 14. Who knows how reliable that is.
Thanks for posting those pics odsjp.

[jbravo2] 26/11/2020 22:22

As for the talk of compensation, clearly the government is going to pursue Armenia for that. That is proper long long game stuff and frankly unlikely to ever be agreed or paid. Armenia is broke. Couldn’t pay if they wanted to and they certainly won’t want to.

[stevea171] 26/11/2020 22:21

Maybe have the Russian mining company continue to exploit the deposit as a whole but under a JV with a Baku nominated partner where 2/3 of profit is paid to Baku's nominated partner paying taxes/royalties to Baku?

[jbravo2] 26/11/2020 22:19

Soutely CA contains Sotk mine. Entirely.
Only AAZ have the rights to mine there.(Up to the border obv). Now access and control has been re-exerted by Azerbaijan it will be us who gets to decide what to do and where, up to the border obviously.
Clearly I wouldn’t expect GPM to want to collaborate (or rather to get the nod to do that from the Arm govt)and therefore I expect us to have to build a new processing plant, but you never know. If both sides are ever going to get serious about living in harmony then I suppose there is a small chance of some kind of agreement.

[jbravo2] 26/11/2020 22:15

Gosh... watch taskmaster and suddenly everyone has finally caught on.... let me type

[donald pond] 26/11/2020 22:11

I don't think its a long shot at all. It's our mine, given to us by the contract. The people mining there knew the risk that if the territory reverted to Azerbaijan they would lose whatever plant they had plus be liable for compensation.
Of course, they won't actually pay any as the judgment will be unenforceable.
But I have no doubt either AAZ will start mining there (and there's a big chance there are plenty of other prospects nearby) or they will give up the territory as a bargaining chip to secure something else.
Given that we had ascribed zero value to the prospects in the territories though, it is clearly positive. It may take a few weeks to better understand whether its game changing positive or just something nice to have.

[wind dancer] 26/11/2020 22:08

So....long shot. Let’s stick to the day job.

[2sporrans] 26/11/2020 22:02

WD

"But is it “ ours”?" [The Sotk gold]

My thinking is prob. not AAZ's.

Just being [partly] within Soutley CA prob. won't butter any parsnips wit the
Azerzi Guvmint.
If AAZ had ever submitted a proposal under the Soutley PSA to go ahead with mine development there, then for sure they would have some claim to make - presented to the Guvmint.
And the success of any such claim would be predicated by the Az. Gu.v managing to claw sommat back from the Russian Co.

But wtfdik

[bleepy] 26/11/2020 21:57

From admins docs...

3.9 CONTRACT AREAS IN TERRITORY OCCUPIED BY ARMENIA

3.9.1 Gyzilbulakh
There is evidence of prehistoric copper workings at Gyzilbulakh, which is towards the north of the occupied territory (See Figure 3). The deposit was worked on a small scale starting in 1934, but the main deposit is separated from these old workings by a fault and is completely covered. Good exploration technique revealed the presence of the main deposit beneath cover. An area of about 500m by 1000m has been well explored by drill holes, drifts, raises and winzes
The deposit consists of generally tabular lenses of silica-sulphide that are sub-parallel to the low to moderate dip of the host volcanics. High gold and copper values generally correlate with sulphide abundance but not necessarily with each other. Gold values greater than 100g/t were encountered. Appropriate top-cutting methods were applied to these high-grade samples during resource calculation.
A C1+C2 resource of 4.2Mt at 3.76g/tAu, 1.32%Cu and 5.27g/tAg has been well defined in Behre Dolbear’s opinion. The deposit itself is compact and well defined. Preliminary inspection of the cross sections indicates the deposit could be exploited by open-pit methods at a stripping ratio of less than 5:1.
The immediate surrounding area has been well explored and only small satellite mineralization has been found. However, the description in the report indicates a geologic environment similar to Gedabek and suggests the potential for discovery of nearby porphyry mineralization.

3.9.2 Vejnali
The Vejnali prospect is located near the southernmost point of Armenian-occupied Azerbaijan near the border with Armenia and Iran as shown in Figure 3. It consists of a series of steeply-dipping quartz veins that are rarely more than 1m wide. The prospect has been thoroughly and systematically explored by underground workings including raises and winzes.
A C1+C2 resource of 463,000 tonnes grading 9.5g/tAu, 33.7g/tAg, 0.22%Cu has been well defined by the exploration work, in Behre Dolbear’s opinion. Preliminary metallurgical testing indicated that 98.4% of the gold could be recovered by cyanidation.
83

The mineralization is also highly anomalous in Te, As, and Bi which is indicative of an intrusive source for the mineralization. Although no indication of large-scale mineralization was seen in the data reviewed by Behre Dolbear, the regional geologic environment is considered permissive for bulk-tonnage gold and copper mineralization.

3.9.3 Soutely
This area in the north-east of the occupied territory borders Armenia as shown in Figure 3. This Contract Area includes part of the mineral deposit being mined from the Armenian side as the Zod mine. Because there is no agreement on the exact line of the border, no analysis on this property was undertaken.

[donald pond] 26/11/2020 21:55

From Google, quite interesting: Sotk has been well known for its mines throughout its history. The mines may have been exploited as early as the 2nd millennium BC, evidenced by the discovery of pits, funnels covered with grass, underground workings, wooden tools, stone mortars, washing pots, and more. The mines were used with interruptions until the 14th century AD, and later rediscovered in the 20th century.

Sotk(Zod) gold mine is located on the border of Kalbajar (Karvachar in Armenian) region of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Vardenis (Basarkecer in Azerbaijani) region of the Republic of Armenia. The field was discovered by the Caucasus Gold Exploration Department ( "Qafqazqızı;lkəşfiyyat idarəsi" in Azerbaijani) in 1951. Although most of the field is located in the Kalbajar region, exploration work was carried out by the Armenian USSR Geological Department and the Armenian Nonferrous Metallurgy Department according to the Soviet government decision supported by armeanian nationalist ideas . Despite the fact that only 7 out of 23 core deposits of the field are located in Armenia USSR, the State Reserve Commission under the former USSR Council of Ministers deliberately falsified the geological materials and maps submitted by Armenians. Exploitation of the field began in 1976.

So, the million dollar question: where are these 16 core deposits in Azerbaijan? Is the open pit 1, 2, all 16 of them? There's going to be more, lots more.

[wind dancer] 26/11/2020 21:53

So....yes the bad guys have been nicking Azeri ore quite clearly seen from the dump truck movements and the haul road layout.
But is it “ ours”?
Maybe unanswerable at this point.

[bleepy] 26/11/2020 21:50

Great info jb and impressive the speed of events on the ground. Imagine security of liberated borders a top priority.

Perhaps the Russian mine owners a little friendlier than the Arm maybe willing to surrender reserve/resource info.

[2sporrans] 26/11/2020 21:47

JB

If a good 1/2 of the Zot/Sotk mine is located in Ajerbaijan, does that mean the Russian company has been mining there illegally?

further, if the mine lies within Soutley CA, does AAZ have a right to claim for the
gold etc that has been [illegally] extracted? [From the Russian Co.?]
Well, at least a %, after the Azerzi guvmint share is accounted for.

Prob. not, as not even case of a PSA activated for production phase.....
but worth contemplation.