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Uzbekistan to increase gold production

Finance Materials 27 February 2020 12:25 (UTC +04:00)
Uzbekistan to increase gold production

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 27

By Ilkin Seyfaddini – Trend:

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has tasked the management of Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combinat (NMMK) to recalculate the financial performance of the enterprise on the basis of international standards, Trend reports citing the Uzbek media.

This issue was discussed at a meeting devoted to the development of the combinat, the message said.

The State Committee on Geology and the Ministry of Finance have been instructed to transfer reports on gold reserves throughout the country to international standards.

Currently, NMMK's gold stock is estimated at 3,700 tons. During the meeting, NMMK was instructed to increase gold production to 94 tons per year by 2026. NMMK is currently implementing 40 projects worth $4 billion, including the development of a new deposit, which will cost $525 million.

According to the State Committee on Geology, in 2017, the republic produced about 90 tons of noble metal. Taking into account that NMMK accounts for about 80 percent of production (another 20 percent is produced by the Almalyk Mining And Metallurgical Complex), the divisions of the Navoi plant produced about 70 tons of gold during the reporting period.

As of early 2018, gold reserves in Uzbekistan were about 6,000 tons, the message said.

NGMK is one of the world's top three gold producers. However, the book value of the Uzbek enterprise, which is $1.3 billion, is much lower than that of similar foreign companies - the market price of competitors stands at $11 billion. In this regard, the head of state stated the need to reform the plant according to the development program until 2026. In particular, NMMK is considering issuing corporate Eurobonds.

NMMK is the largest industrial enterprise in Uzbekistan. It extracts gold, uranium, rare metals, building materials and other consumer goods. The plant employs over 58,000 people. NMMK accounts for 18 percent of state budget revenues.

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