Photo by: Centerra Gold
VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Canadian miner Centerra Gold has received several permits and approvals in good time from Kyrgyz Republic authorities, ensuring operations at the flagship Kumtor mine can continue as envisioned by the 2017 mine plan.
Centerra had in past years threatened to shutter the Kumtor operation “within weeks” owing to government delays in issuing the yearly prerequisite authorisations to mine.
The permits and approvals are valid for the whole year of 2017, covering the subsoil expertise (approval) from the Kyrgyz Republic State Committee for Industry, Energy and Subsoil Use for its 2017 special mine plan, which includes the Central Pit and Sarytor area, Centerra advised Thursday.
Kumtor has also received the environmental expertise (approval) on the 2017 mine plan issued by the Kyrgyz Republic State Agency for Environmental Protection and Forestry (SAEPF). SAEPF has also issued the 2017 maximum allowable emissions permit and the waste disposal permits for the site.
With these permits Kumtor has the necessary permits and approvals in place for mining operations throughout 2017, pending the discharge permit that will allow the high-latitude Kumtor mine to release water from its tailings facility starting in the spring.
Toronto-based Centerra, which operates the biggest gold mine in Central Asia, has been locked in a bitter dispute with the impoverished nation's government over profit sharing and project ownership. In May the company turned to international arbitration in the hopes of resolving the long-standing dispute. Centerra and its subsidiary are also subject to unresolved multimillion-dollar lawsuits related to alleged land-use infractions and environmental impacts.
An order of the Bishkek interdistrict court that prohibits Centerra's Kyrgyzstan subsidiary Kumtor Gold Company from distributing cash from the cornerstone Kumtor mine, has also seen the company's board suspend its quarterly dividends early this month owing to reduced cash flows.