The Tajik government has wanted to save the Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) from financial crisis but the company is still unable to find partners that could help it financially.
This issue was the focus of a news conference held by the Main Geology Directorate under the Government of Tajikistan.
The government has granted licenses to TALCO for development of the Konchoch and Chulobi gold deposits for the purpose of helping it come out of financial crisis, Murod Jumazoda, the head of the Main Geology Directorate, told reporters in Dushanbe on July 11.
Asked about the current state of affairs at the Konchoch and Chulboi deposits, Jumazoda said that that issue was in the competence of the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies as well as the mining companies.
Meanwhile, the TALCO is still unable to develop the gold deposits.
Recall, the TALCO was granted mining licenses for the Konchoch and Chulobi gold deposits, which are located in the Ayni district (Sughd province), in late November of 2015.
The TALCO has the right to use these deposits during twenty-five years.
The Konchoch deposit contains antimony, mercury, gold, and silver; previously, Konchoch was considered to be purely a mercury deposit.
The Konchoch deposit reportedly has possible gold reserves of more than 55 tons and possible silver reserves of some 44 tons.
The Konchoch group of deposits consists of three objects: Konchoch (gold, silver, mercury and fluorite); Chulboi (gold and silver); and Shahkon (gold, antimony, arsenic and fluorite).
TALCO plans to process up to 900,000 tons of ore at the Konchoch gold deposit per year.
According to a business-plan developed by TALCO, they will organize a stable functioning of an enterprise that will be established on the basis of explored possible reserves of the Konchoch deposit.
“This will allow bringing the enterprise’s annual capacity to up to 900,000 tons of ore with production of a complex concentrate (gold, silver, mercury, antimony, etc) at the dressing works,” the TALCO business-plan says.
The government has exempted TALCO form paying a signing bonus, which frequently becomes obstacle in the way of mining companies. Exemption from paying the signing bonus has given the TALCO an opportunity to speed up the work on production of gold.
The company plans to build a dressing works and a metallurgical plant at the Konchoch deposit.
The Tajik Aluminum Company is currently seeking partner for joint financing of the Konchoch gold deposit development project.
Igor Sattarov, a spokesman for the TALCO, told Asia-Plus Tuesday afternoon that “the company is currently doing a large amount of documentation work.”
“The second direction is seeking for partners for joint development of the deposits,” said Sattarov. “We have received proposals from a number of investors and they are currently under consideration.”
The Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) is one of the ten largest aluminum smelters in the world and provides up to 70% of the country’s foreign currency earnings, consuming 40% of the country’s electrical power. TALCO is wholly owned by the Tajik government. Tajikistan does not mine alumina but imports the raw material through tolling arrangements.
Construction of the Tajik aluminum plant (TadAZ) began in 1972, and the first pouring of aluminum took place on March 31, 1975. On April 3, 2007, TadAZ was officially renamed to TALCO – Tajik Aluminum Company. The Tajik aluminum smelter had the capacity to produce 517,000 metric tons per year.
