KHUJAND, February 19, 2010, Asia-Plus  -- Power supply to the Tajik-Chinese Mining Company deployed in the settlement of Zarnisor (formerly Altyn Topkan), Sughd province has not yet been resumed and it is unclear when it will be resumed, the source at the company administration told Asia-Plus Friday afternoon.

“Lack of electricity forced us to stop work at Paybulak and Altyntopkan mines as well as the concentrating mill,” the source said.  Some 300 people, with more than 50 percent of them being Tajik nationals, now work for the Tajik-Chinese Mining Company.

As it had been reported earlier Uzbekistan cut off electricity supplies to the settlement of Zarnisor for unknown reasons on February 4.

On February 10, Sughd power engineering specialists resumed power supply to the settlement.  They extended a 2-kilometer overhead circuit to the settlement from domestic power supply sources.  However, power supplies were resumed only to residential customers, who now receive Tajik electricity, while the Tajik-Chinese Mining Company deployed in the settlement has not yet received electricity.

According to Sodiq Rustamov, head of the energy and industries department within the Sughd regional administration, the concentrating mill of the Tajik-Chinese Mining Company with rated capacity of processing up to one million tons of ore per year has already been prepared for introduction into operation.  The plant will produce lead and zinc concentrates.  “The plant was supposed to be introduced into operation in November 2009 but the launch was postponed because of mistakes made in designing a tailing dump,” said Rustamov, “They began to construct a new larger tailing dump and this work will take one more month.”