4/25/2007
Russian miner eyes Azerbaijan gold assets: John Helmer for Mineweb
A tussle of superpower dimension may be looming as a major Russian mining figure, Sergei Vybornov, newly appointed chief executive of Alrosa, prepares a joint gold mining investment project with officials of the Azerbaijan Government. This follows an Azeri press report of a meeting in Baku, the Azeri capital, called by local officials with representatives of Alrosa, Russia's state owned diamond mining company which has been diversifying into gold, oil, and other minerals.
The report from Baku remains unconfirmed. It is also unclear whether Vybornov, who has publicly announced his ambition to pursue gold mining acquisitions in the Caucasus, is the initiator of a gambit into Azerbaijan; whether the Azeris are attempting to embroil Alrosa in their conflict with Armenia; or whether the Russians are applying an indirect form of pressure on the Armenians. The gold assets lie squarely in the middle of this Caucasian chalk circle.
The deposits identified in a news report from Baku are (in current Azeri spelling) Gedabek, Gosha, and Ordubad, which are located in western Azerbaijan; and Soutely, Gyzilburakh, and Vejnali, located in Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan, and controlled for more than a decade by the Armenian army. A map, published in the annual report for 2006 of Anglo Asian Mining Plc, refers to this area as "occupied territories". And there's the double rub.
First of all, there is no foreseeable prospect of Azerbaijan negotiating a peaceful change of Armenian rule of Nagorno-Karabakh; and no chance whatever of a military option. Although Australian and other gold mining companies have long sought concessions for gold believed to lie in territories stretching eastward and northward from Turkey into the Caucasus, and although Soviet geologists were convinced the area holds significant gold deposits, no geologist, no outsider, is safe between the two warring armies. And that includes Russians.
The report from Baku remains unconfirmed. It is also unclear whether Vybornov, who has publicly announced his ambition to pursue gold mining acquisitions in the Caucasus, is the initiator of a gambit into Azerbaijan; whether the Azeris are attempting to embroil Alrosa in their conflict with Armenia; or whether the Russians are applying an indirect form of pressure on the Armenians. The gold assets lie squarely in the middle of this Caucasian chalk circle.
The deposits identified in a news report from Baku are (in current Azeri spelling) Gedabek, Gosha, and Ordubad, which are located in western Azerbaijan; and Soutely, Gyzilburakh, and Vejnali, located in Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan, and controlled for more than a decade by the Armenian army. A map, published in the annual report for 2006 of Anglo Asian Mining Plc, refers to this area as "occupied territories". And there's the double rub.
First of all, there is no foreseeable prospect of Azerbaijan negotiating a peaceful change of Armenian rule of Nagorno-Karabakh; and no chance whatever of a military option. Although Australian and other gold mining companies have long sought concessions for gold believed to lie in territories stretching eastward and northward from Turkey into the Caucasus, and although Soviet geologists were convinced the area holds significant gold deposits, no geologist, no outsider, is safe between the two warring armies. And that includes Russians.
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