Azerbaijan’s state-owned mining company AzerGold is exploring potential gold and other mineral projects in Kyrgyzstan as it looks to expand its operations in Central Asia.
On September 14, AzerGold Chairman Zakir Ibrahimov met executives from Kyrgyzaltyn, Kyrgyzstan’s state-owned gold mining company, to discuss potential joint mining and exploration projects.
The two companies formalized their initial agreement on July 31 in Cholpon-Ata, where AzerGold and Kyrgyzaltyn signed a memorandum of cooperation. A month and a half later, the Azerbaijani delegation traveled to see Kyrgyzstan’s gold mining operations firsthand.
One of the stops was the Altynken gold mine in the Chuy Region. It is operated by a joint venture between Kyrgyzaltyn and a subsidiary of China’s Zijin Mining. Kyrgyzaltyn holds 40% of the venture, and Zijin 60%. The AzerGold delegation was shown the mine and its processing facilities. It then traveled to Kyrgyzaltyn’s refinery in Kara-Balta, giving the delegation a view of both extraction and refining operations.
For AzerGold, Kyrgyzstan would mark another step in a recently launched international expansion.
In June, the company signed an agreement in Tashkent on the joint development of a gold deposit in Uzbekistan, albeit with scant details. AzerGold nevertheless described the Uzbek project as the first major step in its international growth and has identified Central Asia as one of its priority regions for expansion. The talks in Bishkek suggest it is now looking for a second foothold in the region.
For Kyrgyzaltyn, interest from a new partner comes after major changes in the country’s gold mining industry. The most significant was the long-running dispute over Kumtor, Kyrgyzstan’s largest gold mine. The government took control of the mine from Canada-based Centerra Gold in May 2021. Under a settlement reached the following year, Centerra transferred ownership of its Kyrgyz subsidiaries to Kyrgyzaltyn, while Kyrgyzaltyn gave up its roughly 26% stake in Centerra.
That episode did not end Kyrgyzstan’s use of foreign mining capital. Kyrgyzaltyn remains partnered with Chinese investors at Altynken, while an Indian-backed project at the Altyn-Tor section of the Solton-Sary deposit reached the production stage this month. Kyrgyzaltyn holds 35% of that venture and Avelum Partner, controlled by India’s Deccan Gold Mines, holds 65%. AzerGold could now become another foreign partner in the state company’s portfolio.
