 Presentation
and History |
Located at an altitude of around 4,000 m in the
Central Tien Shan mountains, Kumtor is not only
Kyrgyzstan's largest individual mining operation,
but is also the largest western-managed mine in
the former Soviet Union, and one of the largest
gold projects worldwide. In 1998, the operation
produced about 645,000 oz of gold at a cash production
cost of US$179/oz.
Preliminary agreement on Kumtor Project was executed
in 1992 in Toronto between the Government of the
Kyrgyz Republic and Cameco Corporation (Canada )
for exclusive right for Cameco to develop the deposit.
The interests of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic
are represented by Kyrgyzaltyn JSC. The share of
the Government in the Project is 2/3 and that of
Cameco - 1/3.
On behalf of Kumtor Gold Company the management
of the Kumtor Project is carried out by Kumtor Operating
Company (the Operator of the project, a subsidiary
of Kumtor Gold Company JV). The Master Agreement
on Kumtor project was signed in 1994.
On December 17, 2002 a concentration plant was put
into operation at Kumtor site (4 200 m above sea
level). The first Kumtor gold bullion was produced
on December 31, 1996. The average annual output
of gold at Kumtor makes up 650 thousand ounces (20
tons).
| Facilities
|
Open-pit mining equipment at Kumtor
The Kumtor deposit, about 400 km southeast of
Bishkek, was discovered in 1978 during regional
exploration. Subsequent evaluation work on the
property included 7 km of trenching, over 30 km
of underground adit and crosscut development and
some 77 km of core drilling. In 1993-94, the Canadian
company, Cameco Corporation, better-known for
its uranium operations, spent around C$10 million
on a feasibility study, and in mid-1994 signed
a master agreement with the Kyrgyz Government
covering Kumtor's development. Cameco has a 33.3%
interest in the Kumtor Gold Company (KGC) joint
venture with the Government, whose stake has up
to now been held by the State mining company,
KyrgyzAltyn. In April 1999, the Government announced
its intention to transfer this holding to the
State Property Fund. The mine is operated by a
Cameco subsidiary, Kumtor Operating Company, which
has an initial 10-year contract with KGC.
The mine was officially opened in December 1996
by the Kyrgyz President, Mr Akaev, and the first
gold was poured at the end of the month. Project
development cost US$452 million, some 20% over
budget, largely because of changes that had to
be made to the mill location and as a result of
problems associated with the climate and extremely
remote location.
The Kumtor ore body is hosted in a complex sequence
of Late Cambrian carbonaceous phyllites. Alteration
in the host rocks is variable, while localised
faulting provides some structural control to the
ore distribution. A significant feature of the
ore is the "preg robbing" characteristics
shown by some of the carbonaceous material, a
phenomenon that markedly increases the risk of
gold losses from the recovery circuit unless careful
control is exercised. The gold is principally
associated with pyrite, with lesser amounts contained
in some altered host rocks.
The Kumtor mill
Development of the ore body required the stripping
of both waste rock and ice contained in the overlying
Lysyi glacier. The mining fleet, based around
O&K RH120 hydraulic excavators, Caterpillar
992 wheel loaders and Cat 777, 70 t-capacity trucks,
was acquired second-hand from the Ataturk dam
project in Turkey, representing a major cost saving.
The mining rate currently involves the production
of 114,000 t/d of ore and waste, with the mill
handling 15,000 t/d of ore at a head grade of
around 4.2 g/t.
The mill flowsheet consists of primary crushing,
SAG and ball milling, and flotation to recover
85-90 t/h of pyrite concentrate. Both the concentrate
and the flotation tails are leached in parallel
carbon-in-leach circuits to recover the contained
gold.
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The gold is very fine
(5-40 microns), necessitating very fine grinding
before leaching can be effective. Recoveries are
in the order of 76-80%, varying in relation to the
amount of highly carbonaceous rock being processed.
Gold bullion is produced on site, with final refining
at the Kara-Balta plant near Bishkek.
Flotation cells in the mill
Tailings are stored in an empoundment lying 8 km
from the mill in the Kumtor River valley. A tailings
water retreatment plant was commissioned in May
1999 at a cost of US$4.5 million, using the Inco
cyanide destruction process to remove any residual
cyanide and metals before water is released into
the river. As with all of the mine structures, the
tailings dam itself has been designed to withstand
major earthquakes, given that Kumtor lies in a tectonically
very active zone.
The new cyanide destruction facility
Kumtor's contribution to the Kyrgyz economy cannot
be overstated. The country's exports have risen
sharply in value since the mine opened, while the
operation directly provides jobs for nearly 1,400
Kyrgyz as well as for over 140 expatriate staff.
In addition to helping develop local infrastructure,
the mine is also committed to providing extensive
practical training to its workforce. Kumtor is serviced
by a specially developed access road, there is an
airstrip on site, and a 600-bed camp provides accommodation,
recreation and medical facilities for those currently
on shift. The mine operates a 14-day rotation for
local employees, and 28-day for expatriates.
Adherence to international standards
The environmental protection at the Kumtor site
is good. Kumtor Operating Company is strictly following
international ecological standards which is proven
by numerous mountain goats, foxes, wolves, gophers
and birds living in the nearby Ken-Suu area. This
place in Tien-Shan turned into something like the
national park that was planned by the Kyrgyz Government.
When the Kumtor gold mine will be fully developed
approximately in 23 years, all pits and waste dumps
will be covered with earth and the soil will be
restored. However, production waste dumps in the
permafrost conditions require an increased attention
with regard to possible climate changes (as warning
or an increased precipitation). So Kumtor specialists
are always on the alert.
| Kumtor
in numbers |
3 million ounces of gold or 105 tons has been
produced by KOC since 1997. The profit is shared
according to following scheme: 2/3 to Kyrgyzstan
and 1/3 to Cameco. The output of the Kyrgyz-Canadian
venture made up 10.6% of Kyrgyzstan's GDP in the
1st quarter of 2002. Should other Kyrgyz industries
work as good as Kumtor, the country would have
no problems with servicing its foreign debt that
has achieved a critical level of 130% of GDP.
However, no one industrial enterprise can rival
Kumtor. Practically, KOC is the only company in
Kyrgyzstan that has created many jobs for local
citizens at its gold mine (as well as gives jobs
to partner companies working to KOC's order).
KOC donated US $ 1 million for social and economic
needs of the Issyk-kul province and US $ 300.000
to reconstruct the electricity supply network
in Karakol, as well as some other donations at
the beginning of its operations.
Kumtor's accident frequency rate in 2001 was 0.11,
half of Cameco's overall rate of 0.22 and 70% reduction
since production began in 1997. As a comparison
with other jurisdictions, the Saskatchewan mining
industry rate was 1.1 and the Ontario mining industry
rate was 1.3
After recording 1 million man-hours without a
lost-time accident six times in its history, Kumtor
went on to double that to 2 million man-hours
last year. In addition, the exemplary safety performance
in 2001 was accomplished at the same time that
Kumtor produced a record volume of gold with total
production for the year weighing in at more that
750.00 ounces.
Kumtor Operating Company has won the Chairman's
Mary-Jean Mitchell Green Memorial Award for 2001,
Cameco Corporation's highest safety honor in recognition
of the outstanding safety achievements. |
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