The price of an ounce of gold has reached a record high, which is good news for Azerbaijan's Gadabay gold mine.
The price of an ounce of gold leapt to $1,095.4 in trading in London on Wednesday. Prices rose in the second half of the day from $1,088.5 per ounce.
The price rise followed the International Monetary Fund's announcement that it had sold 200 tonnes of gold to India and was planning to sell another 203 tonnes to China.
Deutsche Bank analysts predicted that in 2010 the gold price would exceed $1,100 per troy ounce with the dollar rate falling to 1.6 dollar against the euro.
Azerbaijan, which began exporting gold in July, can expect to receive surplus profits from gold production.
Reza Vaziri, founder and president of RV Investment Group which operates Azerbaijan's Gadabay field, said earlier that Azerbaijan could export 40,000 ounces of gold by the end of the year and increase exports up to 60,000 ounces in 2010.
The Gadabey field is estimated to hold some 22 tonnes of gold, 192 tonnes of silver and 37,000 tonnes of copper with additional reserves of 14 tonnes of gold, 123 tonnes of silver and 22,000 tonnes of copper.
RV Investment Group Services have a 51-percent stake in the Gadabay project, while Azerqizil, owned by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, holds 49 percent. The sides signed a production sharing agreement in 1997.