READY FOR PROSPECTING?

Uzbekistan has prepared over 200 proposals for exploration works within investment blocks and promising areas for foreign investors, which were presented at the international conference Uzgeoinvest in Tashkent.

Investors are offered 38 promising areas to explore deposits of uranium, tungsten, lithium and other rare metals under the terms of production sharing agreement, and establishment of joint ventures.

The proposals encourage investors for exploration works on perspective areas and manifestations of minerals. The legal entities and individuals, who financed works on geological exploration of mineral resources, have the exclusive right to obtain a license for mining operations on the field they have explored.

Since 2012, Uzbekistan has been purposefully working on compilation of lists of undeveloped fields and their regional location maps, taking into account demands of the industry, and the import substitution program.

The proposals are forwarded to local municipalities to inform local entrepreneurs. Later on, based on their applications, the State Committee for Geology builds annual lists of subsoil areas, licenses to use, as issued upon public bidding. 797 licenses have been issued for abovementioned areas in the past five years, 190 of which were issued last year alone.

According to the State Balance of Mineral Reserves as of January 1, 2016, 1,895 deposits have been opened in the country, more than 1,000 or 53% of which were opened in the years of independence. This year’s list of investment projects for investors includes 547 solid mineral deposits ready for mining. Of these, 463 fields are envisaged for building materials, 38 – mining, 16 - mining and chemical, and 30 - semiprecious materials.

Uzbekistan intends to establish enterprises on the basis of abovementioned deposits, and produce a wide range of domestically and internationally marketable products. Some of the deposits are located in the immediate vicinity of free economic zones.

Jahon Information Agency