Anglo Asian Mining PLC (AIM:AAZ, OTC:AGXKF) said an independent review of the tailings dam at its Gedabek mine delivered to the Azerbaijan government this week had made several recommendations for improvement.
A report was commissioned after protests in July by residents against the proposed construction of a second tailings dam close to the one in place already.
Mining consultant Micon carried out the review and made several recommendations, advising first that the emergency response capability at the Gedabek site for dealing with a cyanide incident was inadequate.
At the same time, environmental monitoring and associated documentation should be strengthened so issues are identified at an earlier stage.
Gedabek also does not have a dedicated community relations department, Micon noted, and is therefore limited to administrative work rather than proactive communication in the field.
Recommendations were also made to improve some operational, social and safety aspects of the Gedabek site, Anglo Asian noted.
Micon added that environmental tests found no cyanide in the soil above the limits for analytical detection while radiation levels were in line with the area generally.
Four water samples contained “very low” cyanide levels but were within the limits of IFC performance standards, Micon added.
Overall the report concluded: “Opposition to the proposed new tailings storage facility is the result of a lack of proactive communication between the site management team and the local community, longstanding issues regarding land allocation and mineral rights, and the failure to follow accepted international protocols for public consultation, rather than a fundamental technical problem with the current tailings storage facility or the proposed location for the new tailings storage facility."
Anglo Asian said it was carefully considering the findings of the report and is in active dialogue with the government and local communities at Gedabek with regard to implementing its recommendations.