DUSHANBE, November 13, Asia-Plus – China’s company dealing with export/import of new technologies has got a license for developing and operating deposits of the Altyn-Topkan ore department.
According to the Ministry of Industry, the enterprise has been closed down since 2000. “American and Russian companies had also been interested in participating in resumption of extraction of zinc and lead ores at the Altyn-Topkan deposit,” said the source, “But since the Altyn-Topkan ore department was engaged only in extraction of ore without further processing of it, they found this method of work not so profitable.”
“In the spring of this year, Chinese specialists familiarized themselves with infrastructure and state of the mine and decided to invest funds in development of it,” said the source, “A China company has to date got a license for developing and operating only two deposits – Poibuloq and Altyn-Topkan.”
The work will start next year. China intends to invest US$30 million in the full rehabilitation of the mine and stage-by-stage construction of the concentrating factory at the mine on production of zinc and lead, as well as extraction of the attendant elements such as silver and gold, according to the source.
The source said that an initial capacity of the factory is expected to be 250,000 of ore per year. “In future, the factory’s capacity may possibly be brought up to 500,000-700,000 tons, and even 1 million tons,” the source said, noting that before launch of the factory into operation the ore extracted from the Altyn-Topkan mine will processed in China.
The ore mining plant Altyn-Topkan is created on the base of polymetallic deposits, situated in the area of Kuramin ridge on the territory of the Sughd province, 110 kilometers of Khujand.
