BISHKEK (Reuters) -Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday began underground gold mining at Kumtor, one of the largest deposits in Central Asia, which the government said could hold as many as 147 metric tons of gold reserves.
Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, a populist and nationalist, nationalised the mine in 2021, taking it over from Canada’s Centerra Gold following years of litigation. It has since brought in $3.4 billion for the government.
In a statement, Japarov’s press service said about 1,600 metres of tunnels had been dug in Kumtor so far.
“The underground project is expected to operate for 17 years, and geological reserves of 147 tons of gold have been added to the state balance sheet,” it said.
It did not give a monetary value for this, but gold has recently been trading at record highs above $3,000 a troy ounce.
Kyrgyzstan also plans to start processing the Kumtor tailings pond, which contains more than 100 tons of gold, according to the government.
Located in eastern Kyrgyzstan some 50 km (31 miles) from the Chinese border, Kumtor was developed by Centerra Gold, which began mining there in 1997.
Kyrgyzstan cut production at the Kumtor deposit to 12.6 tons last year from 13.6 tons in 2023.
(Reporting by Aigerim Turgunbaeva, Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
