DUSHANBE, August 18, Asia-Plus — The Vostokredmet (Eastern Rare Metals) state enterprise based in northern Tajikistan has received order from the country’s government for producing jubilee souvenirs from gold by Tajikistan’s Independence Day.
According to information from the Ministry of Industry, the volume of produced souvenirs is not yet known. The source says the Vostokredmet’s affinage shop receives gold or processing from three gold-mining enterprises operating in Tajikistan: Zeravshan, Aprelevka and Darvaz. Because of quality of the raw materials received, which frequently does not meet contract requirements, Vostokredmet has to constantly make changes to affinage process, according to the source
The Asia-Plus interlocutor says the Vostokredmet enterprise handled production of golden and silver bullions in the early Nineties after Tajikistan gained its independence. The rated capacity of the Vostokredmet’s affinage shop is 10 tons of gold and 40 tons of silver a year. But the shop has not operated in full capacity for shortage of the raw materials, according to the Asia-Plus interlocutor.
The Vostokredmet enterprise also produces jewelries in small amounts, and jewelries manufactured at Vostokredmet are realized inside the country.
ABOUT:
The Tajik Vostokredmet (Eastern Rare Metals) state enterprise was set up in the early 1940s to extract and enrich uranium. In the Soviet era, the enterprise was under jurisdiction of the Ministry of Atomic Industry of the Soviet Union, and in the Nineties it was transferred to jurisdiction of Tajikistan. In the Nineties, the Vostokredmet enterprise was standing practically absolutely idle.
The Vostokredmet enterprise includes the Chkalovsk mechanical engineering plant, mine-prospecting services, large research labs, scientific-production center for electronic techniques, and construction and transportation management services. At present the enterprise mines marble and limestone and produce more than 20,000 square meters of decorative tile and other products a year.
