After another scandal around Kumtor, the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, together with the Parliament, decided to organize a trip to the mine for media representatives. The officials and deputies wanted the journalists to familiarize themselves with the situation onsite.
The head of the State Committee for Ecology and Climate, Dinara Kutmanova, showed the territory of the mine, told about the pit itself, tailing dumps and waste dumps. She also showed documents, as she said, confirming violations by the Canadian Centerra company.
The journalists wanted to study the documents in more detail, but they were not allowed, because the press tour was taking place at a rapid pace.
The 24.kg news agency journalist also visited Kumtor and tried to find out what is really happening at the mine and what the employees themselves say about the situation.
Earlier, the deputies of the Parliament took note of the interim report of the state commission for checking the activities of Kumtor. Work of the commission has been extended for another three months. The deputies also agreed to impose external management on the company.
Centerra Gold Inc. announced arbitration proceedings against the government of Kyrgyzstan in response.
However, it turned out during the press tour that no effective measures have been taken to date to save Davydov glacier, where the waste dumps were stored. The Cabinet of Ministers explains this by the fact that the field has been under the control of Kyrgyzstan for only a few days.
«The extraction is carried out in an open way. Further ice removal takes place. However, the term for underground development has been set back in 2008. It is necessary now to take a number of priority measures in order to first of all eliminate all violations and minimize environmental risks. External control has been imposed 10 days ago. As far as I know, measures are being taken to start the whole process and eliminate the risks of a man-made accident. It depends on the quality of management, of course,» Dinara Kutmanova told.
Waste mining from the pit reaches 585,000 tons daily. The daily production of the gold recovery plant is 17,500-18,500 tons.
When answering the question about expertise, on the basis of which conclusions were made about violations at the mine, and whether there was the conclusion itself, the official said that the work was carried out by the State Inspectorate for Ecological and Technical Safety.
«The inspectorate carried out checks and issued an act. First, a claim and an order are issued. The latter was not complied with. That is why the State Inspectorate for Ecological and Technical Safety filed a lawsuit,» she said.
«Every effort is being made to continue production, the team is 100 percent local. They have been working here for 25 years, their competence and professionalism allow them to manage production activities. Financial management, which was governed by the Canadian side, is another matter,» Dinara Kutmanova explained.
«Amik did not have any special, global and material claims. The firm came to us three times — in 2013, 2014 and 2017. The strategic agreement on Kumtor, which was initiated in 2017, was based on only 20 points of recommendations from the law firm. The mine has fulfilled all of them to date, in 2019 — in full. One is partially fulfilled because it results from the other. It will be fulfilled during closure of the field. Kumtor employees are out of politics. But, perhaps, the government has some economic grievances against Centerra. We continue working smoothly,» the man told on condition of anonymity. According to him, he could be fired for such comments.
According to Article 62 of the Water Code on the protection of glaciers, activities that accelerate melting of glaciers, using coal, ash, oils or other substances or materials, are prohibited, with the exception of activities on the Davydov and Lysii glaciers.
During the press tour, a relative of a worker contacted the media and said that they had not received full wages for the two-week shift. The woman asked for help in reaching out to the management of the mine.
«Their salary is divided into two tranches — the work shift from the 1st to the 15th day of the month receives money on the 30th day, and those who worked from the 15th to the 30th must be paid from the 1st to the 15th day of the next month. However, to date, they were only given an advance, although the salary should have been transferred on May 15. Exact dates of the remaining payments were not named, nothing was said,» she told.
«I think that we should not and will not have problems with money. All deliveries have been negotiated and renewed. The storage of reagents, equipment and spare parts is planned for 2.5 months without detriment to production,» he said.
Having spent the whole day at the mine, the journalists saw for themselves that the work at the mine continues without interruption. Equipment is in motion, еру workers are at the workplaces.
Representatives of the company’s external management and officials show optimism and are confident in the prospects for development of Kumtor.
Only one thing remained unclear: if Kumtor is working, nothing has changed there, no changes are seen on the Lysii and Davydov glaciers, then why did they make such a fuss and frighten each other with proceedings? Wouldn’t it have been easier for our officials to ask Canadian investors to simply take into account theirs, the deputies’ and officials’, personal ambitions ...