DUSHANBE, October 1, 2015, Asia-Plus – Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasoulzoda visited the Pakrut Gold Project on September 30, according to the Prime Minister Secretariat.

The main purpose of the visit was for the prime minister to get acquainted with the process of installation of equipment at the gold deposit.

Representatives of the Pakrut Gold Project noted that the enterprise will launch operations in late October this year.

At first, the enterprise will produce two tons of gold per year and starting in 2018 it will increase annual gold production to 4 tons, the representatives noted.

1,300 people now work for the Pakrut Gold Project and more than 60 percent of them are nationals of Tajikistan.

Pakrut gold mine, located approximately 120 kilometers north-east of Dushanbe, is owned by China Nonferrous Gold (formerly known as Kryso Resources). The mine development is being undertaken in two phases, which are expected to cost $223 million in total.

The mining license for the Pakrut Gold Project was issued in January 2012 and is valid until November 2030.  Construction of the mine began in September 2012 and operations are expected to commence in 2014.  As of March 2014, the main decline was developed to a depth of 600m out of the planned 1,800m. The west ventilation access decline was developed to 285m out of the planned 520m.

According to the Mining Technology site, the mine is estimated to process 660,000t of ore per annum initially and 1.32 million tons per annum from 2017.

The JORC-compliant resources of Pakrut gold mine are estimated at 4.72 million ounces of gold at a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t.

The mine is expected to extract 2,000t of ore per day and approximately 9.8 million tons over its estimated 19-year life.