Tajikistan produced a record amount of gold in 2018 – more than 6.4 tons.
According to the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies (MoINT), Tajikistan last year produced gold 16.9 percent more than in 2017. The ministry refrains from disclosing the actual amount of gold produced in the country last year.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Industry and New Technologies, Shavkat Bobozoda, told reporters in Dushanbe on February 13 last year that Tajikistan produced 5,500 kilograms in 2017, which was 11.2 percent more than in 2016. Bobozoda noted that it is planned to increase gold production in 2018 by 20 percent compared to 2017.
“Over the last four years, an average annual gold production growth rate has amounted to more than 20 percent,” Bobozoda added.
Proceeding from the fact that Tajikistan produced 5.5 tons of gold in 2017, one can calculate that more than 6.4 tons of gold were produced in the country last year.
An official source at a MoINT notes that Tajikistan has created favorable conditions for investment in the country’s gold production sector.
Recall, Tajikistan produced 5,000 kilograms of gold in 2016. In 2015, Tajikistan produced about 4,200 kilograms of gold, which was nearly 32 percent more than in 2014. In 2014, Tajikistan produced about 3,200 kilograms of gold.
Tajikistan has 137 deposits with estimated reserves of industrial gold and 127 deposits of non-industrial gold. Tajikistan plans to increase annual production of gold to 17 tons beginning on 2022.
Four large gold mining companies now operate in Tajikistan: Tilloi Tojik; Tajik-Chinese JV Zarafshon; Tajik-Canadian JV Aprelevka; and China Nonferrous Gold Limited, which is the first foreign company to obtain 100% ownership of a mining and exploration project in Tajikistan. Besides, enterprises such as Odina, Nazira, Ganj, Barakat and Istiqlol are engaged in gold production in the country.
Most of gold comes from the Jilau deposit operated by Tajik-Chinese joint venture, Zarafshon, which reportedly accounts for more than 70 percent of the total amount of gold produced in Tajikistan.
