Mining Intelligence and News
Azerbaijan

Gedabek Operation

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Categories

Summary

Mine TypeOpen Pit & Underground
StatusActive
Commodities
  • Gold
  • Copper
  • Silver
  • Zinc
Mining Method
  • Truck & Shovel / Loader
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Mine Life... Lock
SnapshotAnglo Asian Mining has historically produced gold, copper and silver from its open pit and Gadir underground mines at Gedabek. With these operations now mature, the company is transitioning to production from its new deposits of Zafar and Gilar situated at Gedabek, and Xarxar and Garadag.

Gilar, a new underground copper and gold mine at Gedabek, started production in May 2025. Development of Zafar started in 2023 but was stopped in mid-2023.

Processing facilities at Gedabek underwent significant maintenance in 2023 and 2024.

As part of its growth strategy, the company’s primary output will shift to copper from gold, with copper becoming the majority contributor to revenue by 2026.
Latest NewsAnglo Asian Mining: Production commences at the Gilar mine     May 19, 2025

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Anglo Asian Mining plc 100 % Indirect
Azerbaijan International Mining Company Limited (AIMC) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anglo Asian Mining PLC. Full management control of mining and exploration activities rests with AIMC.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Breccia pipe / Stockwork
  • Porphyry
  • Hydrothermal
  • Volcanic hosted

Summary:

The Gedabek operation includes Gedabek, Gadir, Zafar, and Gilar deposits.

All the deposits are located within the Gedabek CA and are part of the Gedabek ore district. The Gedabek ore district is extensive and includes numerous mineral occurrences and prospects (as well as operating mines). The region lies within the Shamkir uplift of the Lok-Karabakh volcanic arc, in the Lesser Caucasus Mega-Anticlinorium. This province has been deformed by several major magmatic and tectonic events, resulting in compartmentalised stratigraphic blocks.

The Gedabek mining operation is located in a 300 square kilometre Contract Area in the Lesser Caucasus mountains in western Azerbaijan on the Tethyan Tectonic Belt, one of the world’s most significant copper and gold-bearing geological structures.

The ore finds in the Gedabek CA are hosted predominantly in Bajocian-aged, hydrothermally altered volcanic units.

Gadir deposit
Gadir is interpreted as a low-sulphidation (“LS”) epithermal orebody, which is located approximately 400 metres northwest of the current Gedabek OP limits. Gedabek mineralisation is considered to be related to a high-sulphidation (HS) system. There is a significant fault structure separating these two areas.

The Gadir mineral deposit is located at the contact between volcanic rocks and the quartz porphyry (rhyolite-rhyodacite subvolcanic formation) in a similar lithological position to the Gedabek mineralisation. There are disseminated breccias and mineralised hydrothermal structures (predominantly vein and stockwork systems) in the quartz porphyry.

Zafar deposit
Zafar is a new discovery located 1.5 kilometres north-west of the existing Gedabek processing plant. The geology of the area is structurally complex, comprising mainly of Upper Bajocian-aged volcanics. The mineralisation seems to be associated with a main northwest to south-east trending structure, which is interpreted as post-dating smaller north-east to south-west structures. In the south-west area, outcrops with tourmaline have been mapped, which can be indicative of the potential for porphyry-style mineral formation. The exploration area is located along the regional Gedabek-Shekarbek fault system, with Shekarbek being another target area known to host copper mineralisation, situated in the north-west of the zone.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Commodity Production

Due to the suspension of agitation and flotation processing for a substantial part of 2024, mining at Gedabek was considerably reduced compared to previous years, resulting in lower gold and copper production than in 2023.

Production during 2023 decreased significantly compared to 2022 due to declining ore grades from the Gedabek open pit and the partial suspension of mining and processing from August to December 2023.
CommodityProductUnits20242023202220212020201920182017
Gold Metal in concentrate oz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe5,9477,1827,083
Gold Metal in doré oz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe64,15165,61652,534
Gold Equivalent Metal in conc./ doré oz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe81,39983,73671,461
Copper Metal in concentrate M lbs  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe4.93.64.4
Copper Concentrate kt  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe128.89.3
Silver Metal in doré oz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe19,70726,18622,728
Silver Metal in concentrate oz  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe139,649183,998150,125

Operational metrics

Metrics20242023202220212020201920182017
Ore tonnes mined  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2,913,266 t1,744,310 t1,060,160 t
Tonnes processed  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe2,724,880 t2,314,881 t1,804,360 t

Production Costs

CommodityUnits2023202220212020201920182017
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Gold USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 591 / oz **   541 / oz **   604 / oz **  
** Net of By-Product.

Mine Financials

Units20242023202220212020201920182017
Revenue M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 92.1   90.4   71.8  
Pre-tax Income M USD  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe  ....  Subscribe 30.1   25.2   5.7  

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNamePhoneEmailProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ........... Subscription required ........... Subscription required Subscription required Jun 17, 2025
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Workforce

EmployeesYear
...... Subscription required 2024
...... Subscription required 2023
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...... Subscription required 2019

Aerial view:

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