DUSHANBE, February 14, Asia-Plus — Tacom Gold, a gold-mining enterprise established by the limited liability company Tacom (cellular operator functioning in Tajikistan under Beeline brand), is interested in developing gold deposits in southern Tajikistan, according to the Ministry of Energy and Industry (MoEI).
The source at a MoEI said that Tacom Gold received license for alluvial operation at gold deposits Sariob in Danghara and Bandisariob in Tavildara in July last year. “The company has conducted geological surveys to explore the gold reserves of these deposits,” said the source, “Tacom Gold has also begun to deliver necessary machinery and equipment to the deposits to start the work on mining gold.”
The source added that the Sariob deposit, located in Danghara, has proven reserve of 1.5 tons of gold, while the reserves of the Bandisariob deposit in Tavildara have been estimated at 5 tons of gold.
“Tacom Gold does not intend to build processing factories at the deposits because it takes time and requires considerable financial resources,” the source noted. “Therefore the company has decided to purchase mobile gold-processing plants.”
The source added that the company is expected to have spent $5 million this year to purchase the necessary equipment and start the work on developing the deposits.
In the meantime, Tacom Gold director general Abbos Rajabov confirmed in an interview with Asia-Plus that Tacom Gold was established by the limited liability company Tacom in May 1996. But the company separated from Tacom in September 2006 already, and it now is an independent enterprise. “We now have no relation to the cellular operator Tacom,” Rajabov said, adding that Tacom Gold is the joint venture. However, he refrained from naming the second co-founder of the joint venture.
According to the MoEI, the Sariob and Bandisariob deposits had been developed in the Soviet time and the development of the deposits was suspended in 1991 because of financial problems.
The MoEI said that Tajikistan last year produced 1,730 kilograms of gold, which is 530 kilograms more than in 2005. The gold production in Tajikistan reached a peak in 1998, when more than 3,000 kilograms of gold were produced in the country.
According to Tajikistan’s Main Geology Directorate, Tajikistan has 28 known gold deposits containing an estimated 429.3 tons of gold. At present the country produces on average 2 tons of gold per year, most of which comes from the Jilau deposit operated by the Zeravshan Gold Company (ZGC).
