Gold mines of Uzbekistan

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"We opened 20 mines in one year and extracted 70 tons of gold."

(from the conversation of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev

at the opening of the aboveground subway in Tashkent, 2020)

Uzbekistan is a beautiful country that boasts architectural monuments of antiquity and natural attractions at the same time. Here mountains are adjacent to lakes, and deep rivers with deserts. Such places are real wealth for the Uzbek people, but something more is stored in the depths of these lands, another wealth hidden from prying eyes and accessible only to a few - those who are constantly looking for and mining valuable metals.

Джизакский регион ДJ
Jizzakh region

Uzbekistan is a country rich in mineral and natural resources, with very favorable natural and geographical conditions among the countries of Central Asia. Our country has deposits with large reserves of natural gas, coal, copper, tungsten, oil, precious stones and, of course, platinum, gold and silver.

The Uzbek people have always had a special attitude to gold, since ancient times the inhabitants have used gold products, this is confirmed by numerous finds and traces of ore mining.
Ювелирные изделия Каракалпакстана

For example, various precious metal products dating back to the II-I millennia BC were discovered in the Tashkent region.

In the VIII century, the fame of gold products from Central Asia began to reach the most remote corners of Russia and Western Europe. In 1714-1717, an attempt was made from the Russian Empire of the Khiva campaign, in order to discover deposits of precious metals.

In the XIX century, another campaign was launched to develop the bowels of the Uzbek land, in particular, gold prospectors and entrepreneurs from Europe arrived in the country with only one goal – to mine valuable metals.

The rapid development of the mining and metallurgical industry occurred during the Soviet Union. Large deposits were discovered, among which Muruntau is one of the world's largest gold deposits located in the southwest of the Kyzylkum desert. Here, in 1958, the Novoi Mining and Metallurgical Combine was founded, which took leading positions in the production and extraction of gold not only in Central Asia, but also around the world.

Muruntau Quarry

To this day, Muruntau remains the largest quarry by area and one of the deepest in the whole world. Muruntau contains huge deposits of turquoise and arsenic. Some geologists call this place with the largest gold reserve in the world and according to various estimates, its volume reaches a staggering 5,300 tons per year.

To date, Uzbekistan continues to occupy leading positions in gold reserves. In 2018, our country ranked 4th in the world, and gold reserves were estimated at 5.99 thousand tons. In two years, this indicator continues to grow.

To date, the main gold ore bases and deposits are located in the territories of Navoi, Tashkent, Samarkand, Kashkadarya, Surkhandarya regions, as well as the Republic of Karakalpakstan.The lists of deposits and prospective sites are updated every five years. Today, the well-known deposits are: Muruntau, Mutenbai, Triada, Ajibugut, Amantaytau, Kokpatas, Daugyztau, Charmitan, Guzhumsai, Sarmich, Biran, Marjanbulak, Kochbulak, Kairagach, Kyzylalmasai, Kauldy, Pirmirab, Guzaksai, etc. Gold mining is carried out by extraction from the bowels of the earth through mines and by the formation of a quarry on the surface of the earth's crust.

The leading gold producers in the country are Almalyk MMC and Navoi MMC.

It is still difficult to say how much gold the land of Uzbekistan holds in itself, it is assumed that it is hundreds of tons. The search for deposits and gold mining is still ongoing.

In the near future, gold mining and the volume of production of the precious metal are planned to increase. To this end, measures were approved for the further development of the mining and metallurgical industry.

In addition, in order to expand investment and savings opportunities, the sale of gold measuring bars opened on November 2 of this year. Gold bars are made of pure gold of 999.9 samples and weighing 5, 10, 20 and 50 grams.