DUSHANBE, March 15, Asia-Plus – Tajik-Canadian gold mining joint venture Aprelevka intends to have resumed mining and processing of ores at the Ikkijelon deposit in northern Tajikistan this year, the JV financial director Mirzo Sharipov said.
According to him, the company is currently engaged in mining and processing of ores at Aprelevka, Kyzyl-Cheku, Burgunda, and other small deposits in the Sughd province.
Sharipov said that a decision to resume development of the Ikkijelon deposit had been made after exploring its gold and silver reserves. “The company, through development of this deposit, intends to increase production of precious metals by 5 percent and increase the production of gold to 500 kilograms per year,” the company official said, noting that Aprelevka last year produced 485 kilograms of gold.
Azim Ibrohim, the head of Tajikistan’s Main Geology Directorate, said in an interview with Asia-Plus that mining of ores at the Ikkijelon deposit had started in the Soviet time already. The mining of the deposit was suspended in the early Nineties, according to him.
According to specialists from the Tajik geology directorate, the gold and silver reserves of the Ikkijelon deposit are estimated at 3.5 tons and 7.5 tons respectively.
The Tajik-Canadian gold-mining joint venture Aprelevka was established in the Sughd province of Tajikistan in 1995. Dore alloy is the finished product of this enterprise. Tajikistan owns 51 percent of the shares and the Canadian company Gulf International Minerals assumes the 49% ownership interest in the joint-stock company Aprelevka. 60 percent of the company’s product goes to replenishing Tajikistan’s golden reserves.
The last year’s
modernization of the JV gold-extracting factory has enabled the company to increase its annual productivity from 180,000 tons of ore to 300,000 tons.
Tajikistan is reach in mineral deposits. According to the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI), Tajikistan has 28 known gold deposits containing an estimated 429.3 tons of gold. The country produces just over 3 t of gold each year, most of which comes from the Jilau deposit operated by the Zeravshan Gold Company (ZGC), which is a joint venture with Avocet Mining PLC. The third gold producer is JV Darvaz that produces gold from its alluvial operation at the Yakhsuo deposit, located in Khatlon province in southern Tajikistan. It reportedly has proven reserves of around 25 tons of gold.
As far as silver deposits are concerned, the total silver reserves in Tajikistan are estimated at 60,000 tons.
