AzerGold CJSC to Expand its Activities in Karabakh and East Zangezur

Since its establishment, AzerGold Closed Joint-Stock Company (CJSC) has paid special attention to the investigation of illegal exploitation facts in Karabakh and East Zangezur. In 2023, this activity continued to give a legal assessment of the illegal actions of Armenian and some European companies. Started in 2018 before the Patriotic War, this process gained a wider scale after the occupation ended. Since 2022, AzerGold has been acting in this field in cooperation with the State Service for Property Issues under the Ministry of Economy.

Since 2022, AzerGold CJSC has also started phased prospecting and exploration in the Tutkhun noble metal manifestation area located in the administrative territory of Kalbajar district. Exploration is only performed in areas cleared of mines. Thus, despite the planned survey in the Tutkhun area of 273 km2, by the end of 2023, we managed to perform geological exploration in an area of 57 km2, cleared of mines. Preliminary results are satisfactory, and the exploration is ongoing. This year, it is planned to allocate for geological exploration another 32 km2 area. Currently, that area is being cleared of mines and other unexploded ordnance by the experts of the Azerbaijan National Agency for Mine Action (ANAMA).

In 2022, hyperspectral satellite images were first taken in the South Caucasus region to partially compensate for the loss of time caused by land demining. Shooting was performed for a total area of 1,624 km2, covering the Kalbajar region and partly, the Lachin region.

Also, under the I State Program on the Great Return to the De-occupied Territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated November 16, 2022, important tasks have been charged to the CJSC such as monitoring, inspection, exploration, and assessment of mineral resources. AzerGold continues to support the policy pursued by Azerbaijan in the field of using the available natural resources of Karabakh and East Zangezur for the benefit of the Azerbaijani people as part of the State Program for 2022-2026.