23.05.2019

Since 2015, work at the Jeruy deposit in Talas oblast hasn't ceased for a single day," Kasiet Karacholokova, press secretary of the Alliance Altyn LLC, told Maral FM radio program. At the moment an active construction of the gold extraction plant and tailings pond is in progress. Ore production will begin in August 2019. About 100,000 tons of ore are needed to load the plant. First gold from Jeruy is expected in early December

Since 2016, the amount of capital investments in Jeruy made by Alliance Altyn totaled $105 million. The company also paid more than 500 million KGS in taxes to the state treasury. In addition, according to social commitments, 100 million KGS were allocated to the Bakubat Talas Welfare Fund each year and another 150 million KGS will be allocated in 2019. The company contributed another 4 million KGS to the reclamation fund, which has a total budget of $5.5 million. Currently there are about 500 people working in the field, including contractors. The company is hiring local staff through a competition and provides them with training, Karacholokova said.

Kuban Ashirkulov, a mining industry expert, said Altyn's work would set a good example for other companies to follow, for example, in terms of compliance with environmental standards. According to the expert, this is facilitated by a highly active public oversight by local residents who defend the country's interests.

For his part, Sadyrbek Otorbayev, chairman of the Council of Aksakals of Bekmoldo Ayil Okmotu, Talas oblast, told Maral Radio that after extensive negotiations, Alliance Altyn had purchased land from the state enterprise Kyrgyzaltyn at a cost of 216 million KGS to exploit the Jeruy deposit. He attributes the delay in mining operations at Jeruy specifically to the drawn-out land purchase procedure. Otorbayev noted that the local population gives its full support to Alliance Altyn. He highlighted the modern and highly environmental-friendly technology of semi-dry storage of dumps.