Upon closer inspection, the so-called Azerbaijani eco-activists who have closed the Stepanakert-Goris highway, the only land link connecting Artsakh and Armenia, since December 12 are mere cogs in a larger game masterminded by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to achieve his political and economic ambitions.

The activists say they want access to the Kashen mine in Artsakh, alleging Armenians are illegally engaged in mining operations there.

Baku has its eye on the copper-molybdenum mine, one of the prime economic resources in Artsakh, that fuels Aliyev’s ongoing political policy to create an Artsakh without Armenians.

Baku gives British company rights to Artsakh mines

The Azerbaijani government took its first step on July 5 of this year. A change in the contract signed with Anglo Asian Mining PLC, a British firm operating in Azerbaijan, resulted in three new mining sites (contract areas) handed over to it.

One of areas, which the Azerbaijanis and the British company call Demirli, coincides with the eastern part Artsakh’s Martakert region, this according to the map published by the company. Demirli is the name the Azerbaijanis call the Martakert village of Tsaghkashen, where the Kashen mine is located.

The Kashen mine is operated by Base Metals CJSC, a member of the Vallex Group. At one time, this company also exploited the Drmbon copper-gold mine, about 14 km from Kashen. Base Metals then started to build the Kashen mining complex. The Drmbon mine remains under the control of Artsakh.

Base Metals, with some 2,000 employees, is the largest taxpayer in Artsakh.

Anglo Asian says it was originally granted six contract areas in Azerbaijan under a Production Sharing Agreement (“PSA”) with the Government of Azerbaijan dated 20 August 1997.   

In fact, it wasn’t Anglo Asian who signed the 1997 deal with Azerbaijan, but the U.S.-based RV Investment Group Services LLC, owned by Mohammad Reza Vaziri from Iran. Founded in 1996, it’s in Delaware, considered a corporate "tax haven" state. 

The areas acquired by the American company were Gedabek (Armenian historical Getabak), Gosha, Ordubad, Soyudlu (Sotk), Kyzlbulag and Vejnaly. The last three were controlled by the Armenian NKR (Nagorno Karabakh Republic) following the 1990s Artsakh war.

Following the 2020 Artsakh war, only one part of the Sotk mine remains in Armenian hands. That part is in Armenia’s eastern Gegharkunik Province. The rest lies across the border, in the historic Armenian region of Karvatchar, now controlled by Azerbaijan. The Kyzlbulag area includes a part of the Martakert region of Artsakh (south of the Sarsang reservoir) and a part of the Askeran region, but its main resource is the Drmbon mine. Vejnaly is in historical Armenian region of Kovsakan (Zangelan).

Reza Vaziri and his associates started mining in Azerbaijan in the second half of the 2000s, with Anglo Asian Mining. The latter until July 2022 "owned" 6 contract areas, in 3 of which it was engaged in mining or exploration.

In 2007, Anglo Asian Mining received the rights to explore and mine in the Gedabek contract area (more than 300 square kilometers) for a period of 25 years. Mining activity for gold, copper and silver began in 2008.  

Gedabek is the main region of the British company's operations in Azerbaijan. The gold, copper and silver mined from the neighboring Gosha contract area (300 sq km) are also processed in the Gedabek complex. Gosha has been operating since 2014.

Exploratory works are still underway in the Ordubad contract area (462 square kilometers) located in Azerbaijan’s Nakhijevan Autonomous Republic.

Misrepresenting the content of the November 9, 2020 Artsakh war ceasefire statement, the British company states that, thanks to this agreement, a corridor from Azerbaijan to Nakhijevan will operate through Armenia’s Syunik Province and will greatly facilitate the Ordubad resource extraction project by Anglo Asian Mining. Thus, we see that the "Zangezur Corridor" project, so desired by the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem (and their well-known and unknown supporters), has not only a political and military component, but also an economic component.

Anglo Asian "received" three new territories as a substitute for the Sotk mine

Anglo Asian notes that in 2022, with the contract change of July 5, it gave up on the Sotk gold mine. The mine split by the new Armenia-Azerbaijan border was a headache for the British company. Conversely, one should also consider what plans Aliyev has regarding the Sotk mine. After all, Sotk is one of the largest gold deposits in the region. The Sotk mine is operated by Armenia with Geopromining Gold LLC, a company with Russian roots.

In any case, Anglo Asian was not left empty-handed and got Xarghar, Garadagh and Demirli instead of Sotk.

Xarxar and Garadagh are near Gedabek and Gosha. Xarxar is a copper mining zone, Garadagh is porphyry, a volcanic rock that serves as a building material, although some types of porphyry include non-ferrous metals: copper, molybdenum, gold, palladium, rhenium.

British investors are enthusiastic about this new acquisition. The company's website states there are 300,000 tons of copper in the Garadagh porphyry mine., at an estimated value of more than US$3 billion.

The third zone allegedly acquired in July is Demirli, the eastern part of the Martakert region of Artsakh, with the Kashen mine, which was and remains under Armenian control. It’s remained a sore spot for the Baku regime and the British company cooperating with it. Anglo Asian, speaking about the reserves of Kashen, cites the message released by Base Metals in January 2016 during the opening of the Kashen complex, according to which the copper reserves in Kashen are estimated at 275,000 tons, and 3,200 tons of molybdenum. The British company notes this is an unsubstantiated assessment.

According to Anglo Asian, the total area of the Xarxar, Garadagh and Demirli mining zones is 882 square kilometers. 

Thus, instead of the previous six, the British company now has eight contract areas on paper, the total area of which, according to Anglo Asian, is 2544 square meters. As stated, three are being mined or explored.

"Restored" mining areas

The other two territories, which the British company describes as "restored", are Vejnaly and Kyzlbulag, which were handed over by Azerbaijan to the American "RV Investment Group Services" in 1997.

Vejnaly is a gold mining site in historical Armenian area of Kovsakan (Zangelan). After the 2020 Artsakh war, Azerbaijan regained control of Kovsakan and Anglo Asian considers its rights to Vejnaly "restored". The company says during the "Armenian occupation" there was some mining activity here, which was then stopped (they mean in 2020), and now the region is allegedly protected by the Azerbaijani government, and they have access to the mine.

According to Anglo Asian, the ore accumulated in Vejnaly (not stated, but logically, mined by Armenians) was transported and processed in the Gedabek complex in December 2021. "It is currently carrying out a technical study to determine whether it is economic to recommence mining from the existing underground mine," Anglo Asian's website states.

If Vejnaly is under the control of the Azerbaijanis, and the rights of Anglo Asian to it are "restored", then the contract area called Kyzlbulag is currently inaccessible to the British enterprise, like Tsaghkashen (Demirli), and it is nonsense for it to be somehow "restored”. Nevertheless, this contract area covering part of the Martakert and Askeran regions of Artsakh is a tasty morsel for Anglo Asian, as the information on the latter's website indicates.

Accordingly, Kyzlbulag includes several mines and has great exploration potential. It is mentioned that there is a copper-molybdenum mine and a factory here (they mean the Drmbon mine and factory). "There are indications that up to 35,000 ounces (about 1 ton - Hetq) of gold per year were extracted from the Kyzlbulag copper-gold mine, before the mine was closed several years ago," Anglo Asian notes on its website referring to the operation of the Drmbon mine and factory by Base Metals.

"Russian peacekeepers are currently present in the area ensuring the region is safe. The Government (Azerbaijan - Hetq) will use all its reasonable endeavours to ensure that the Company has physical access to the region to undertake mineral exploration.”

To be continued

Top photo, Kashen open pit mine