«Mining industry in Kyrgyzstan has been living on old reserves for the last 30 years,» President of the Kyrgyz Society of Subsoil Experts, Ishimbai Chunuev, stated today.
According to him, most of the deposits were explored during the Soviet era. During the years of independence, only one field has been explored using the classical method — Shambesai. And only 9 tons of gold were booked.
«There are forecasted reserves for one more field, but it has not yet been put on the balance sheet. It was planned to implement 13-14 gold projects and attract investments for $ 1.5 billion in 2013. But in fact, only 3-4 projects were implemented, attracted investments for which amounted to about $ 400-500 million. We are losing significant investment in the mining industry. But it gives 10 percent of GDP and 45-47 percent of exports. It should be a priority in the National Development Strategy of Kyrgyzstan. But, unfortunately, it has not received the status of a priority direction in recent years,» Ishimbai Chunuev said.
