The Ministry of Industry an New Technologies (MoINT) of Tajikistan has asked the Pakrut Gold Mine, of which China Nonferrous Gold (CNG) has 100 per cent ownership, to increase gold production and further processing of output.
The activities of the Pakrut Gold Mine have reportedly been discussed at a meeting of the Minister of Industry and New Technologies, Mr. Zarobiddin Fayzullozoda, with Pakrut LLC General Manager, Mr. Zhang Gang.
“In connection with declaring the accelerated industrialization the fourth national strategic goal of the country, the minister has asked to take immediate measures increase output production,” the MoINT press center says.
The two sides also discussed issues related to raising qualification of local specialists, attracting additional investments and creating new jobs.
The Pakrut gold project is located approximately 120 kilometers north-east of Dushanbe. The mine development is being undertaken in two phases, which are expected to cost $250 million in total.
Total JORC Code-compliant resources of 4,808,000oz Au, assuming a 0.75g/t cut-off grade, have reportedly been defined at the Pakrut Gold Project.
The Pakrut Gold Mine produced the first gold ingot in January 2016 and processed 230,000 tons of ore and produced 162 kilograms of gold, which marked the point at which the Pakrut gold mine had officially entered the trial production stage.
CNG says the Pakrut Gold Mine in February 2017 experienced high levels of snowfall that had not been seen for over 50 years with the electric pylons destroyed and extensive damage to plant and equipment. Due to the power supply to the mine site failing and the inability to access the mine, drainage work could not be commenced which resulted in the mine tunnels being flooded. The disaster brought material economic losses to the Pakrut Gold Mine and at the same time caused the project construction and production to fall significantly behind schedule.
However management reportedly made a number of important operational decisions to ensure development and construction could continue. In March, the roads were repaired to allow for traffic to return and site access to be restored. In May, temporary power supply was resumed. In September, underground drainage and dredging were completed. Damaged buildings and equipment were all repaired in October and normal power supply was restored at the end of December. The facilities damaged by the snow disaster have now been fully repaired laying a good foundation for restoring production and completing all infrastructure construction works in 2018.
In April 2018, mining was reportedly started with 50,000 tons of ore produced and stored. The processing plant has resumed production and the smelting plant is also operating well.
Last year, CNG reportedly invested additional 70 million U.S. dollars in development of the Pakrut deposit. Before that, the company invested more than 180 million U.S. dollars in development of the Pakrut deposit.
CNG is a London Stock Exchange AIM-listed mineral exploration and development company, focused on projects in Tajikistan. CNG was granted an exploration and trial license over the Pakrut License area, covering 63 square kilometers, in April 2004. The license area is located in the Tian Shan Gold Belt – the world's second largest known gold belt. In January 2012, CNG was granted a full mining license for the Pakrut Gold Project by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan. This mining license is valid until November 2030. By that time, CNG plans to produce 857,000 ounces of gold and 123,000 ounces of silver.
