WNAM MONITORING: President Shavkat Mirziyoyev got acquainted with a report on the work being carried out and the progress of investment projects in geology.
Responsible persons reported on fulfilling the tasks set at the beginning of the year.
In particular, almost 3 million tons of coal have been mined over the past 6 months. Underground mechanized complexes have been fully commissioned at the Shargunkumir JSC, and daily coal production has reached 3.5 thousand tons.
In the second half of the year, more than 5 million tons of coal are planned to be mined. Of these, 1.8 million tons will be supplied to thermal power plants, more than 1 million tons to the population, 540 thousand tons to social institutions, and 1.8 million tons of local coal will be put up for exchange trading.
In general, coal production is expected to increase by 1.4 million tons this year compared to last year, and the volume of imports will decrease significantly.
Several investment projects are also being implemented in the industry. In particular, the Chinese company Henan plans to direct $400 million in investments to develop the Nishbash deposit. As a result of this project, up to 8 million tons of coal will be mined underground, and 5 million tons of coal will be enriched yearly.
Uzbekistan has large reserves of kaolin. Currently, entrepreneurs involved in developing deposits are mining 396 thousand tons of this raw material.
Therefore, within the framework of the Geology Program for 2024-2025, 7 deposits will be offered to initiators, due to which the production volume will be increased to 2 million 700 thousand tons.
It is also planned to produce enriched kaolin jointly with the Turkish company Bab Energy ve Petrol Urunleri A.S. at the Apartak-3 deposit in Tashkent region. As a result, 40 new jobs will be created, and 70 thousand tons of enriched kaolin will be prepared per year.
At the meeting held on April 29 this year, the Head of state paid particular attention to the issue of minerals critical for industry. After that, the Uzbek Technological Metals Plant JSC was created specializing in this area. 34 projects worth $40 million have been developed for scientific and technological research and geological exploration.
Measures are being taken to develop cooperation with foreign partners by attracting leading foreign companies and qualified experts to this area. In particular, last month, as part of the visit of the President of the Republic of Korea to Uzbekistan, an agreement was signed with the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) on a grant project for $10 million to search for rare minerals, conduct technological research and digitalization.
Information was also provided on the progress of joint projects with the People’s Republic of China, which totaled $800 million.
The Head of state gave instructions on expanding geological exploration work and manufacturing value-added products from the raw materials obtained.
