WESTERN FIRMS TO HUNT GOLD IN KYRGYZSTAN.

WESTERN FIRMS TO HUNT GOLD IN KYRGYZSTAN.

The state company Kyrgyzaltyn (Kyrgyz Gold) and the U.S. mining company Santa Fe Pacific Gold have set up a joint venture to prospect for and extract gold at the high-altitude Solton-Sary site. The cost of the investment project at this stage is valued at $120 million and profits are to be shared equally. This is the second major gold-prospecting and mining venture to be launched by western firms in Kyrgyzstan. Canada’s Cameco company is engaged in a $375 million project to develop the Kumtor gold-mining site and to build a gold ore-processing plant there. Kumtor’s anticipated output is 15 tons of gold annually, starting in 1997. (14)

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