Executive manager of the Kazakh company in charge of developing the Sari Gunay Gold Mine in the western province of Kurdistan, Moris Satiashvili says the project has achieved 85% physical progress and that the mine will start operation by June.
The announcement was made following a two-day visit by the head of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), Mehdi Karbasian to Kazakhstan last week to discuss the mining contracts, Eghtesadnews reported.
According to the Kazakh official, as much as $48 million has so far been invested in the project, with an additional $15 million required for completing the project.
Once completed, the mine will have the capacity to extract more than 950,000 metric tons of high-grade ore during the first year of operation. The mine’s capacity will be increased to 2 million tons in the second year of operation and exceeds 4 million tons from the fifth year, according to Satiashvili.
The gold mine, located 90 kilometers east of Sanandaj, was supposed to start operation in September 2013. The deadline was further extended until October 2014 but the Kazakh company once again missed the deadline.
Mining experts believe that if the mineral exploration, extraction, and processing in Sari Gunay had been completed as per schedule, the mine could now be producing more gold than Zarshooran gold mine in the northwestern province of West Azerbaijan; the current production of which stands at about 3 tons per year.
Satiashvili gave assurance that environmental issues have been taken into consideration in the construction of Sari Gunay mine, in accordance with the internationally standards.
