Duishenbek Kamchybekov, President of the Board of the Association of Miners and Geologists, commented on China’s plans to develop coal deposits to 24.kg news agency.
According to him, to date Kyrgyzstan itself cannot develop its coal deposits due to the lack of necessary financial resources. Experts always say that mining is labor and capital intensive. And these projects are bound to attract large financial resources.
«The Chinese side is going to invest money in the development of about ten deposits. They have memorandums on nine fields, and agreements on two. I would like to draw attention to Ak-Ulak field, which is being considered for development. I think it is not worth building a coal refining plant there,» Duishenbek Kamchybekov said.
He noted that there is information about China’s plans to build a coal plant in Shanxi Province with a capacity of 1.2 million tons of coal per year. Apparently, this is where they are going to supply coal from Ak-Ulak. It was developed during the Soviet era and briefly after independence. Then mining stopped as stripping increased and water appeared. Reserves there are estimated at 60 million tons.
«Let’s say we build a factory there and start developing. In my opinion, we will be able to develop at most 20-30 percent of the reserves from this deposit by open-pit mining with a large amount of stripping work. And in the future there will definitely be problems with providing the capacity of the refining plant,» Duishenbek Kamchybekov said.
The expert recalled that Min-Kush village is located in a compressed area. Large-scale development there would raise environmental issues. Besides, there is a narrow road from the village to the center of Jumgal district and Kara-Keche deposit, which then connects with the highway.
«I can’t imagine how 1.2 million tons of coal will be transported along this road. As a specialist, I would suggest building a coal refining plant not at Ak-Ulak deposit, but near Kara-Keche field. There are more reserves there for open-pit mining (about 190 million tons) and there are reserves below the horizons (at least 300-500 million tons). Coal can be brought down by a ropeway or conveyor line to the village of Dyikan. There is a project to build a railroad near this village, connecting Balykchi, Kochkor and Kara-Keche. If we build the plant there, process coal and in the future build a railroad, it will be possible to transport coal safely, saving the roads. This project would be much more favorable for the Kyrgyz side,» Duishenbek Kamchybekov believes.
