Anglo Asian’s Copper Projects: Worley Europe Feasibility Partnership

The Engineering Behind Copper Cathode: Why Processing Technology Defines Project Value in Emerging Mining Jurisdictions

Before a single tonne of copper ore is processed, the engineering decisions made at the feasibility stage determine whether a deposit becomes a profitable mine or an unfinanced resource sitting idle. In the copper sector, no technology choice carries more weight than the selection between conventional flotation-concentrate routes and hydrometallurgical processing via heap leach and solvent extraction-electrowinning. The former ships a semi-processed product to distant smelters. The latter produces finished, exchange-grade copper metal on-site. That distinction shapes everything from capital structure to offtake terms to project bankability, and it sits at the centre of Anglo Asian Mining's advancing strategy for its Anglo Asian copper projects with Worley Europe as the appointed feasibility engineering partner.

Azerbaijan's Copper Belt: A Geological Case That Has Been Hiding in Plain Sight

The South Caucasus region hosts a well-documented but underexplored sequence of porphyry and skarn-style copper mineralisation that shares geological characteristics with some of the world's most productive copper belts. Azerbaijan's western regions, in particular, contain structural and geochemical signatures consistent with the tectonic setting that generates large-tonnage copper systems. These features are notably consistent with the Tethyan copper belt, a corridor stretching from southeastern Europe through Central Asia that has produced numerous significant copper and gold deposits.

Anglo Asian Mining holds 2,544 km² of licence ground across eight contract areas in western Azerbaijan, a footprint that contains a combined resource base of approximately one million tonnes of copper metal and more than 400,000 ounces of gold. The scale of this resource base within a single operator's portfolio is notable for a company at this stage of development, and it provides the raw material foundation for a multi-asset copper growth strategy that is now entering its most technically intensive phase.

What makes the region particularly compelling from a processing perspective is the prevalence of oxide and transitional copper mineralisation across several of the licence areas. Oxide copper ores, unlike sulphide-dominant systems, are chemically amenable to acid leaching, which makes them natural candidates for heap leach processing. This geological characteristic is not incidental; it is the primary reason the heap leach and SX-EW processing route is being evaluated for Xarxar and Garadag rather than the flotation circuits Anglo Asian currently operates at its producing assets.

What the Xarxar and Garadag Deposits Actually Represent

Xarxar: The Near-Term Feasibility Priority

Xarxar is the more advanced of the two deposits in terms of current study and drilling activity. The project is targeting annual production of approximately 10,000 tonnes of copper per year, with a projected mine life of around seven years under current resource modelling. Two drill rigs were operating at Xarxar as of mid-2026, with drilling programmes already generating the metallurgical and geotechnical data sets that Worley Europe requires to progress the feasibility work. The feasibility study for Xarxar is scheduled for completion by mid-2027.

Garadag: The Larger-Scale Development Horizon

Garadag carries a more substantial contained resource, with an estimated 324,688 tonnes of copper metal within the deposit boundary. The production target range sits between 17,000 and 18,000 tonnes of copper per year, making it the larger contributor to Anglo Asian's longer-term output ambitions. Drilling at Garadag is scheduled to begin in Q3 2026, with the feasibility study targeting completion in the first half of 2028.

Combined Project Parameters at a Glance

Key Insight: The combined production potential of approximately 27,000 to 28,000 tonnes of copper per year from Xarxar and Garadag, added to the output already ramping from Demirli and Gilar, would position Anglo Asian as a meaningful mid-tier copper producer if both projects reach construction and commissioning on schedule.

How Heap Leach and SX-EW Technology Works, and Why the Choice Matters

The Heap Leach Mechanism: Dissolving Copper from Ore in the Open

Heap leaching is a hydrometallurgical process that uses chemical dissolution rather than physical separation to extract copper from ore. Crushed or run-of-mine material is stacked on engineered, lined pads, and a dilute sulphuric acid solution is applied across the surface. As the solution percolates through the ore stack, it dissolves soluble copper minerals, particularly oxides and secondary sulphides, and emerges from the base of the pad as what the industry calls pregnant leach solution, or PLS.

The suitability of heap leaching depends heavily on ore mineralogy and acid consumption characteristics. Not all copper deposits contain sufficient acid-soluble copper to make this route viable, which is precisely why metallurgical testwork forms a critical early component of the feasibility studies Worley Europe will conduct. Confirming the acid-leach amenability of ore from Xarxar and Garadag is among the first technical milestones the programme must achieve. Furthermore, the broader copper leaching process has been refined considerably in recent years, offering improved recovery rates and lower reagent consumption across a range of ore types.

Solvent Extraction-Electrowinning: From Solution to Cathode

The SX-EW process transforms the copper-bearing PLS into a finished, marketable product through two sequential stages:

1. Solvent Extraction (SX): The PLS is contacted with an organic solvent in mixer-settler units. The organic phase selectively strips copper ions from the aqueous solution, leaving behind impurities. The copper-loaded organic is then stripped with a spent electrolyte to produce a clean, concentrated copper electrolyte suitable for electrowinning.

2. Electrowinning (EW): The purified copper electrolyte is circulated through electrowinning cells, where direct electrical current causes copper ions to plate onto stainless steel cathode blanks. After a set deposition period, the copper sheets are stripped from the blanks, yielding LME-grade copper cathode, a product with greater than 99.99% purity that trades directly on the London Metal Exchange without any further processing.

Process Technology Callout: If heap leach and SX-EW technology is successfully implemented at Xarxar and Garadag, it would mark the first deployment of this processing route by Anglo Asian Mining and, according to available information, the first application of this technology in Azerbaijan's copper sector more broadly. This carries significance beyond the two projects themselves, as it could establish a processing template for future oxide copper developments across the country.

Why This Route Changes the Economics

The contrast with conventional flotation is commercially significant. Flotation produces copper concentrate, typically containing between 20% and 30% copper, which must be shipped to a smelter, incurring treatment charges, refining charges, and transport costs that can consume a substantial portion of the contained copper value. SX-EW cathode bypasses this entirely. The producer sells a refined product at a full copper price, retaining value that would otherwise be absorbed by the smelting and logistics chain.

For projects in frontier jurisdictions without established smelting infrastructure nearby, this advantage is amplified. Azerbaijan does not have a domestic copper smelter, which means any concentrate-producing operation in the country faces either long-distance export or significant concentrate stockpile risk. The cathode route removes both concerns. Consequently, prevailing copper market trends further strengthen the case for on-site refining, as tightening global supply conditions have placed a premium on projects capable of delivering finished metal directly to end users.

Why the Worley Europe Appointment Signals More Than an Engineering Contract

Bankability and the Role of Tier-1 Engineering Firms

In the project finance world, the identity of the feasibility study author carries real weight. Lenders and institutional investors conducting due diligence on a mining development project scrutinise not just the study's conclusions, but the credibility and track record of the firm that produced them. A feasibility study authored by a globally recognised engineering organisation with relevant technology experience reduces the technical risk perception that lenders apply when pricing debt facilities.

Worley is a global engineering firm with operations spanning resources, energy, and chemicals sectors across more than 40 countries. Its European operations bring both regional project delivery experience and relevant hydrometallurgical processing expertise to the Xarxar and Garadag assignments. The selection followed a competitive process conducted by Anglo Asian, which adds further credibility to the appointment as a deliberate and rigorous choice rather than a convenience-driven decision.

What the Feasibility Studies Will Actually Deliver

The scope of work Worley Europe will undertake extends well beyond a simple cost estimate. A bankable definitive feasibility study for a heap leach and SX-EW operation requires assessment across multiple technical domains:

• Ore characterisation and acid consumption testwork to confirm metallurgical amenability
• Heap pad foundation design, liner specification, and solution management systems
• SX-EW plant sizing, reagent optimisation, and cathode quality modelling
• Water supply, acid supply, and reagent logistics planning within the Azerbaijani operating context
• Environmental baseline studies and residue management planning
• Capital and operating cost estimation to a level of accuracy sufficient for project financing

Each of these workstreams feeds directly into the financial model that will determine whether the projects proceed to construction and, critically, on what terms capital can be raised.

The 90,000-Metre Drilling Programme: Architecture and Purpose

How the Programme Is Structured

What Each Category Is Designed to Achieve

The infill and geotechnical component directly supports the feasibility engineering process. Infill drilling tightens the spacing between existing drill holes, converting Inferred resource classification to the higher-confidence Indicated and Measured categories that feasibility studies and project finance require. Geotechnical drilling provides soil and rock mechanics data that underpins heap pad foundation design and slope stability analysis, both of which are non-negotiable inputs for regulatory approvals and engineering sign-off.

The exploration component targets a broader set of objectives across the licence portfolio:

• Xarxar and Garadag extensions: Testing mineralisation continuity beyond current resource boundaries to potentially expand the mine life or production scale ahead of feasibility completion
• Gedabek contract area: Follow-up work on targets identified in prior exploration campaigns
• Demirli and Demirli South: Both brownfield and greenfield targets within an area already demonstrated to host economic mineralisation
• Gilar underground: Drilling targeting upper and deeper mineralised levels to support mine planning at a deposit already in production

Investor Perspective: Resource classification upgrades achieved through infill drilling represent one of the most reliable mechanisms for increasing the net present value of a mining project ahead of a financing process. Each tonne moved from Inferred to Indicated classification reduces the geological risk discount that lenders and equity investors apply to future cash flow projections.

Anglo Asian's Copper Production Platform: The Foundation Already in Place

Demirli and Gilar: Operating Assets Demonstrating Execution Capability

Anglo Asian's credibility as a development-stage copper growth company rests in part on its demonstrated ability to bring new mines into production within its existing operational framework in Azerbaijan. The Demirli copper mine commenced commissioning in late 2024 and is targeting 15,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate per annum at full production from 2026. The Gilar mine entered production in 2025, adding incremental copper output to the company's overall profile.

These operating assets serve a dual purpose. Operationally, they generate the cash flow that helps fund the drilling programmes and feasibility studies advancing Xarxar and Garadag. Strategically, they demonstrate to capital markets, potential financing partners, and offtake counterparties that Anglo Asian can execute mine development and commissioning in Azerbaijan, reducing the country-risk perception that frontier jurisdiction projects routinely attract from external capital.

Anglo Asian's Copper Output Trajectory

Note: Production projections beyond 2026 are subject to feasibility outcomes, capital raising, permitting, and construction timelines. These figures represent targets disclosed by Anglo Asian Mining and should not be interpreted as guaranteed outcomes. Investors should review official company disclosures and consider all associated risks before making investment decisions.

From AIM-Listed Producer to Mid-Tier Copper Company: The Strategic Logic

Defining the Mid-Tier Threshold

Within the copper mining industry, mid-tier producer status is generally associated with annual copper equivalent output in the range of 50,000 to 200,000 tonnes per annum. Anglo Asian's current trajectory positions it well below this threshold, but the combined output potential from Demirli, Gilar, Xarxar, and Garadag, if all four assets reach their respective targets, approaches the lower boundary of that range. Closing that gap is the explicit strategic objective underpinning both the Worley Europe appointment and the 90,000-metre drilling programme.

The Optionality Premium Within the Licence Portfolio

A less discussed but analytically important dimension of Anglo Asian's position is the exploration optionality embedded within its 2,544 km² licence footprint. The company's current development pipeline is built on a fraction of the total ground it controls. Significant areas remain underexplored, and the geological setting that hosts Xarxar, Garadag, Demirli, and Gilar extends across multiple licence areas where systematic exploration has not yet been conducted.

In resource company valuation frameworks, this kind of exploration optionality is typically assigned a modest but non-zero value, reflecting the probabilistic chance of additional discoveries converting into future production. As the 55,000-metre exploration drilling component of the current programme begins generating results, any meaningful new discoveries within the licence portfolio could shift the long-term production outlook materially beyond what the current four-asset pipeline suggests.

The staged feasibility timeline, with Xarxar targeting mid-2027 and Garadag following in the first half of 2028, also reflects a disciplined approach to capital allocation. Rather than attempting to advance both projects simultaneously toward construction, the sequencing allows each study to inform the next, manages technical and financial risk, and creates defined milestones around which the company can engage with project finance markets at appropriate points in the development cycle.

Frequently Asked Questions: Anglo Asian Copper Projects and the Worley Europe Feasibility Studies

What are the Xarxar and Garadag copper projects?

Xarxar and Garadag are two copper deposits located within Anglo Asian Mining's licence areas in western Azerbaijan. Together with other assets in the portfolio, they contribute to a combined resource base of approximately one million tonnes of copper metal. Both deposits are being progressed through feasibility studies aimed at establishing heap leach and SX-EW copper cathode production operations.

What is Worley Europe's role in the feasibility process?

Worley Europe Limited has been appointed following a competitive selection process to conduct feasibility and development studies for both deposits. The work encompasses processing option assessment, capital and operating cost estimation, metallurgical evaluation, and environmental baseline studies, with the objective of producing studies to a bankable feasibility standard.

Why is heap leach and SX-EW technology being chosen over conventional flotation?

The oxide and transitional copper mineralisation at Xarxar and Garadag is considered amenable to acid leaching rather than flotation. Heap leach and SX-EW processing produces finished LME-grade copper cathode on-site, avoiding the treatment charges, refining charges, and logistics costs associated with shipping concentrate to distant smelters. In Azerbaijan, where no domestic copper smelter exists, this processing route offers a particularly compelling economic advantage.

When are the feasibility studies expected to be completed?

The Xarxar feasibility study is targeted for completion by mid-2027. The Garadag feasibility study is scheduled for the first half of 2028. Both timelines are dependent on drilling programme progress and metallurgical testwork outcomes.

What is the total estimated development cost for both projects?

The combined development cost for Xarxar and Garadag is estimated at approximately USD $200 million, with shared infrastructure arrangements designed to optimise capital efficiency across the two assets.

How large is the drilling programme supporting the feasibility work?

Anglo Asian has launched a 90,000-metre drilling programme spanning 2026 and 2027, comprising approximately 55,000 metres of exploration drilling and 35,000 metres of infill and geotechnical drilling in direct support of the feasibility studies.

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