DUSHANBE, October 8, 2011, Asia-Plus -- Over the first eight months of this year, Tajik-Chinese gold mining enterprise, Zeravshan Gold Company (ZGC), has produced 828.2 kilograms of gold, which is 35 percent more than in the same period last year, the ZGC deputy director Bobokhon Bobokhonov said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, the enterprise is expected to produce another 800 kilograms of gold until the end of this year.

According to him, China’s Zijin Mining that assumes the 75% ownership interest in the company has invested 67 million U.S. dollars in the enterprise so far.

“Until 2015, Zijin Mining plans to invest another 100 million U.S. dollars in further modernization of the enterprise and construction of a new ore-processing plant with capacity of processing 10,000 tons of ore per days,” Bobokhonov said, noting that the operating plant with daily capacity of 2,000 tons of ore now operates in full capacity.

“Construction-and-assembling operations at the affinage workshop with annual capacity of 5 tons of gold will be completed by the end of this year and the workshop is expected to make the first gold bars by the end of the first quarter of 2012,” the deputy director said.

In the near future, ZGC will start geological exploration at peripheral areas of the Jilau, north Jilau, Taror and Khirskhona deposits.

ZGC was launched as a joint venture with Nelson Resources Ltd (44%) and the Tajikistan government (51%) and the IFC (5%) in 1994. In September 2002, Avocet signed a heads of agreement to acquire the Tajik gold assets of Toronto-based Nelson Resources Ltd held through Nelson''s subsidiary, Commonwealth and British Minerals Ltd.  The assets included a 44% interest in Zeravshan Gold. In November 2004, Avocet increased its equity interest in ZGC from 49% to 75%.  In late July 2007, Avocet sold its equity stake in ZGC to Zijin Mining. ZGC owns gold mining and exploration rights to a 300,000-hectare area near the town of Panjakent in northern Tajikistan.

Tajikistan has 28 known gold deposits containing an estimated 429.3 tons of gold.  The largest amount of gold was produced in Tajikistan in 1998 – 3,000 kilograms, while the country has produced not more than 1,800 kilograms of gold per year in recent years. Most of gold comes from the Jilau deposit operated by ZGC.

Three large gold mining companies now operate in Tajikistan: ZGC; Tilloi Tojik; and Tajik-Canadian JV Aprelevka.  Besides, the private gold mining artel, Odina, operates in Khatlon province.

According to estimates of specialists from the Ministry of Energy and Industries, 2.5 tons of gold will be produced in Tajikistan this year.