DUSHANBE, January 8, 2016, Asia-Plus -- The Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) is seeking partner for joint financing of the Konchoch gold deposit development project, according to the TALCO press center.

We will recall that 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 company plans to build a dressing works and a metallurgical plant at the Konchoch deposit.  

TALCO was granted licenses in late November last year to develop Konchoch and Chulobi gold deposits located in the Ayni district, Sughd province.  

TALCO has the right to use these deposits during twenty-five years, an official source at TALCO said.

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 55 tons, possible silver reserves of 44 tons, possible antimony reserves of antimony, possible mercury reserves of 268 tons and possible fluorite reserves of 205 tons.

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.