Azerbaijan’s state-owned mining company AzerGold has outlined its long-term growth strategy, centered on three major mining assets that could strengthen the country’s position in both precious and base metals. The portfolio includes one of Europe’s largest polymetallic deposits and a gold deposit that suffered years of illegal mining during the regional conflict.
AzerGold Chairman Zakir Ibrahimov presented details of each project. The first is the Soyudlu gold deposit, also known as Zod. Despite years of unauthorized mining during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the deposit still contains an estimated 1.03 million ounces of gold under the JORC reporting standard. Since August last year, the company has been conducting extensive exploration, assessing both the near and far extensions of the ore body while preparing the project for development.
The second project is Ortakend, where 424,000 ounces of gold have already been officially registered as state reserves. Nearby, the Bashkend and Goydag prospects are being evaluated for copper potential, with preliminary estimates indicating approximately 173,000 tonnes of copper. To reduce capital expenditures and improve operational efficiency, AzerGold is considering a cluster development model that would process ore from several nearby deposits at a single processing plant.
The company’s third and most significant asset is Filizchay, one of Europe’s largest polymetallic deposits. Its estimated resources include 2.4 million tonnes of zinc, 787,000 tonnes of lead, 311,000 tonnes of copper, 688,000 ounces of gold, and 91 million ounces of silver. The complex mineralogy of Filizchay requires an unconventional processing approach. AzerGold plans to use ultra-fine grinding technology to produce marketable copper-zinc concentrates. The process is designed to recover at least three base metals at a single processing facility, making the project both technically ambitious and capital-intensive.
Together, the three flagship projects cover the full spectrum of Azerbaijan’s mining ambitions—from traditional gold production to large-scale polymetallic mining. If the company’s plans for cluster processing and ultra-fine grinding prove successful, Azerbaijan will gain not only new mines but also a modern, diversified mining and metallurgical complex.
Source: @nerzhavey
Image: AzerGold
