Uzbekistan, Tashkent, June 27 / Trend D. Azizov /
The Australian Rio Tinto company plans to begin copper exploration in Gava in the Namangan region in Uzbekistan by late 2011, a source in the State Committee for Geology and Mineral Resources told Trend.
According to the interlocutor, the Australian company appealed to the state committee for a license to conduct exploration work in search of copper.
The Uzbek state committee and Rio Tinto signed an agreement to conduct exploration on the promising area of Gava in 2010. At present, the company has prepared preliminary technical and economic calculations for the exploration.
The license for subsoil use is expected to be given during five years in the third quarter of this year after the technical and economic evaluation was conducted. The forecasted resources of the licensed area are not disclosed.