Tag Archives: Azerbaijan

GHH extends dealer network with Türkiye-based Marubeni Dağıtım ve Servis pact

GHH, the German manufacturer of machines for mining and tunnelling industries, has agreed a partnership with the Japanese machine and truck distributor Marubeni Dağıtım ve Servis, in Türkiye, opening up growth opportunities for both companies far beyond the country’s borders.

As one of the major distributors of heavy machinery in Türkiye, Marubeni Dağıtım ve Servis has already established a network of six locations with 270 employees and 50 sales and service centres, reaching as far as Azerbaijan and Georgia. Founded in 1983 and based in Istanbul, the company is part of the Marubeni Corporation of Japan, one of the world’s largest distributors of its kind with 45,000 employees in 463 companies.

This constellation of skills, experience and footprint is highly interesting for GHH, it said. As one of the world’s leading brands in the industry, the company already serves a significant amount of customers in Türkiye. However, the need for a stronger network for consulting, sales and service was identified as a key milestone to support the expansion of its product portfolio in the region.

LHDs, dump trucks and other vehicles, specifically designed for mining in soft and hard rock, are the domain of GHH, which aims to combine cost-effectiveness with robustness, ease of maintenance and driver ergonomics.

GHH, which is preparing to become part of the Komatsu family as part of a December 2022 agreement, is also strengthening its dealer network with this partnership. Marubeni Dağıtım ve Servis is already a strong Komatsu dealer in the Turkish region, having worked with Komatsu in the Turkish market since 1983.

“GHH is very pleased to have reached an agreement with Marubeni Dağıtım ve Servis in Türkiye; we are really looking forward to strengthening our position in the Turkish market together,” Matthias von Buzay (pictured on the left), CEO & CFO of GHH Group, said. “Marubeni Dağıtım ve Servis has extensive experience in product sales and service and is therefore an ideal partner for us.”

Eşref Zeka, Chief Executive Officer of Marubeni Dağıtım ve Servis A.S. (pictured on the right), and Burçak Birand, Marubeni Dağıtım ve Servis Construction and Mining Machinery COO, agreed: “We are excited about the cooperation with GHH as it is a next step in our strategy to grow and strengthen our business in Türkiye and we look forward to a strong and fruitful partnership.”

The two companies sealed their partnership in February when Zeka and Birand travelled to GHH’s headquarters in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and spent time reviewing the offering and way of working, and strategising on business opportunities going forward.

The first deliveries are due to follow shortly. These might include vehicles such as the new LF-10 NEO, a 10-t loader with the highest tipping height in its class, or the MK-A20 dump truck.

Caterpillar, Borusan make historic underground equipment delivery to Anglo Asian Mining in Azerbaijan

Anglo Asian Mining says the Caterpillar mining fleet for its new Gilar mine has now been delivered to the Gedabek mine site, marking the first time Caterpillar underground equipment will be deployed in Azerbaijan.

The equipment will be substantially vendor-financed, and this is the first time Caterpillar will provide this to a customer in Azerbaijan or the wider Caucasus region.

The underground mining fleet comprises three 15-t-payload R1700 underground loaders and two 980UMA wheel loaders with 5.6 cu.m buckets.

Borusan, the authorised regional dealer of Caterpillar equipment, will maintain a stock of spare parts and consumables within Azerbaijan and major parts will be held at Borusan regional centres in Türkiye and Kazakhstan, Anglo Asian says. This will enable efficient aftersales servicing of the machines over their lifetime, which was a major factor in the machine selection process.

The company says: “The underground mining fleet are ‘state-of-the-art’, next-generation machines constructed with safety at their core. They are more powerful and contain many new features compared to their predecessors. The operator environment has been improved and is more comfortable. Many new safety features have been added, including better access points, multiple fire suppression systems and improved visibility and lighting.”

The underground equipment will be used in the company’s new Gilar mine, which is currently under construction and development. On December 11, a maiden JORC (2012) mineral resource estimate was published for the Gilar deposit. This confirmed 6.1 Mt of mineralisation with an average copper grade of 0.88% and 1.30 g/t Au. The in-situ mineral resource is 54,000 t of copper, 255,000 oz of gold and 46,000 t of zinc, according to the company.

The Gilar mine is scheduled to begin production around the middle of 2024 and will be an important source of production, bridging the gap between declining grades at Gedabek’s existing mines and production starting from its much bigger Xarxar and Garadag contract areas.

The total cost of the equipment is $4.6 million. The $3.7 million balance due for the purchase of the equipment will be paid by the end of December 2023 from the group’s existing liquidity resources. It is anticipated that $3.7 million will be refinanced by a vendor financing loan from Caterpillar. Negotiations are continuing with Caterpillar Finance to finalise execution of the loan which is expected to close in the March quarter of 2024.

A ceremony was held on the afternoon of December 11, 2023, to mark the arrival of the equipment at Gedabek. This was attended by the group’s leadership team, Azeri and Turkish representatives from Caterpillar and Borusan, along with representatives from both the central and regional Governments of Azerbaijan. A demonstration was also given of operating one of the machines by remote control.

Anglo Asian bolsters Azerbaijan mining fleet with Epiroc, Cat, Paus and Tunelmak equipment

Anglo Asian Mining says it has placed orders for the major items of equipment required for production from its new Zafar and Gilar mines in Azerbaijan, with a fleet made up of Epiroc drills, Caterpillar loaders and auxiliary machines from the likes of Paus and Tunelmak.

The company has also made progress with the upgrades to its Gedabek flotation plant, it noted.

The equipment for Zafar and Gilar includes an underground fleet from Caterpillar and drilling machinery from Epiroc. The total equipment cost is approximately $10 million, approximately 40% of which will be met from the company’s existing cash reserves with the remaining being funded through vendor financing. The equipment is a significant investment for the company, underpinning its confidence to achieve its stated ambition to transition to mid-tier copper production status, it said.

A day before this announcement, Anglo Asian said it had completed a scoping study for the Zafar underground mine, based on ore production of 700,000 t/y and a 0.5% copper equivalent cutoff grade. Development work and the construction of two portals has also started.

Included in the drilling fleet is an Epiroc Boomer S1 D, three Epiroc T1D jumbos, one Epiroc Simba S7 D and one Epiroc H1354. The Caterpillar machinery includes three 15-t payload R1700 LHDs and two UMA 980 wheel loaders.

Auxiliary units that will complement this fleet include a Paus TSL853 Central articulated steering telescopic swivel loader, two Tunelmak ADROIT 520-2 AH 4×4 hydrostatic basket platforms and one Tunelmak ADROIT 420AH 4×4 articulated hydrostatic shotcrete pump.

Anglo Asian produced 57,618 oz of gold equivalent for the year ended December 31, 2022, but, with the addition of Zafar and Gilar, it has an ambition to become a mid-tier miner producing over 100,000 oz/y of gold equivalent.

An expansion of the flotation plant at Gedabek, the company’s flagship opeation, is underway together with adding a further line to produce zinc concentrate, it said. The total cost of the expansion, which will see it add three new rougher/scavenger cells and four cleaner cells from Maelgwyn Mineral Services, is currently estimated at $3 million which will be paid from the company’s existing cash resources. Contractors have been appointed to supply materials for the new flotation line. Additional contractors will be commissioned to modify the existing building and provide electrical services and control equipment, it added.

The modifications to the flotation plant to increase its capacity have now been broadly completed. The installation of the new flotation line using hydraulic flotation cells will be completed by the end of the year.

Stephen Westhead, Vice President of Anglo Asian, said: “The new equipment will be used to expand the company’s mining and processing operations with the development of two new underground mines this year. The expansion of our flotation plant has been broadly completed, doubling capacity and creating additional processing flexibility. This represents an important step in our medium-term growth ambition to become a mid-tier production miner, and significantly increases our capabilities within copper.”

Anglo Asian banks on Maelgwyn’s Imhoflot flotation tech for Gedabek plant expansion

Anglo Asian Mining has started the expansion of its flotation plant at the Gedabek site in Azerbaijan, with the company set to add an additional three rougher/scavenger cells and four cleaner cells from Maelgwyn Mineral Services.

The expansion will see the plant capacity doubled, while providing additional operational flexibility, it said. It also forms part of Anglo Asian’s increase in throughput capacity to process ore from new mines in the short and medium term. This will begin with Zafar, which is due to commence production in the second half of 2023, and will go some way to supporting the company’s ambition to become a mid-tier miner producing over 100,000 oz/y of gold equivalent.

The total cost of the expansion has been estimated at $2.5 million, which will be paid from the company’s existing cash resources.

Reza Vaziri, Chief Executive Officer of Anglo Asian, said: “This expansion is an important step in the company’s preparation for our new mines entering production…This increase in production capacity is a critical part in enabling Anglo Asian to achieve mid-tier production status in due course.”

Anglo Asian’s flotation plant opened in 2015 to produce copper concentrate as the company was mining ore with increasing amounts of copper. The flotation plant is located at its Gedabek site, next to its agitation leaching plant. The plant currently contains six 50 cu.m rougher/scavenger cells and twelve 5 cu.m cleaner cells, a thickener and a filter press. The plant is fed ore crushed by a dedicated SAG mill and ball mill combination.

Maelgwyn Mineral Services will supply an additional three rougher/scavenger cells and four cleaner cells for the expansion. They use Imhoflot pneumatic flotation technology, which requires less energy and offers better recoveries than traditional tank cells and flotation columns, Anglo Asian states. The cost of the new cells including instrumentation and spares is approximately $1 million.

One Imhoflot cell has been under test at Gedabek since April 2022 and has produced excellent results, the company said.

The additional flotation line will increase the flexibility of the plant and enable the production of an intermediate copper concentrate, followed by a final zinc concentrate as a by-product. The crushing circuit of the current agitation leaching plant will be used to provide the additional crushing capacity required for the expanded flotation plant.

Yon İç Ve Dış Ticaret Pazarlama Limited Şirketih (a Turkish contractor) will supply a new thickener and filter press for the new flotation line at a cost of approximately $500,000. The only additional equipment required to complete the installation will be pumps, electrical panels and some minor ancillary items. The building housing the existing flotation line will also require some modification, but no increase in size.