Kyrgyzstan kicks off underground gold mining at Kumtor
Kyrgyzstan has begun underground gold production at Kumtor, one of Central Asia’s largest bullion mines, which officials say could contain up to 147 metric tonnes of reserves.
Open pit at Kumtor gold mine
President Sadyr Japarov nationalized the mine in 2021, taking it over from Canada’s Centerra Gold (TSX: CG) following years of litigation. The move ended with a settlement under which Centerra abandoned its claims and its subsidiary, Kumtor Gold Company, filed for bankruptcy.
Kumtor was once Centerra’s biggest asset, accounting for more than half of its total output. Since nationalization, the mine has generated $3.4 billion for Kyrgyzstan, according to government figures.
$14 billion in reserves
Japarov told local media that state workers have dug 1,600 metres of tunnels so far. “The underground project is expected to operate for 17 years, and geological reserves of 147 tonnes of gold (or 32,150 troy ounces) have been added to the state balance sheet,” Japarov said, according to 24.kg.
The Kyrgyz news agency did not provide a monetary value for Kumtor’s reserves, but gold has recently traded at record highs above $3,000 an ounce. At current prices, this suggests that the gold mine holds nearly $14.2 billion just in fresh-added reserves.
Kyrgyzstan also plans to start processing Kumtor’s massive tailings pond, which the government says holds more than 100 tonnes of gold.
The mine, developed by Centerra in 1997, lies about 50 kilometres from the Chinese border in eastern Kyrgyzstan. It remains a top employer and a key driver of industrial output, contributing roughly a fifth of the country’s total production. Output slipped to 12.6 tonnes in 2024, down from 13.6 tonnes the year before.
A quiet revolution is unfolding in the mining sector
LONDON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The world is going to need a lot of copper and other critical metals if it is going to pivot away from fossil fuels. But can the mining industry deliver?
The challenges are huge. Ore grades at existing copper mines are steadily falling, big new discoveries are becoming rarer and development times can stretch up to a decade.
Part of the solution is to increase the efficiency of the mining process, which has historically been both highly polluting and wasteful.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
The world dug up 650 million metric tons of copper between 1910 and 2010 but 100 million tons never made it to market, according to a 2020 research paper by Germany's Fraunhofer Institute.
All that metal is still there lying in tailings ponds, a potentially massive resource awaiting the right technology to unlock it.
Rio Tinto (RIO.L), opens new tab has already successfully separated critical metals such as scandium and tellurium from waste streams at existing operations.
Others are now looking at ways to extract value from the vast legacy of past mining activity.
Hudbay Minerals (HBM.TO), opens new tab, for example, is evaluating, opens new tab the potential for re-mining tailings at the Flin Flon site in Canada's Manitoba. The mine closed in 2022, leaving nearly a century's worth of minerals-rich waste.
Australia's Cobalt Blue Holdings (COB.AX), opens new tab, which has been collaborating on the Flin Flon project, has also signed an agreement, opens new tab with the Mount Isa city council in Queensland to explore re-working pyrite tailings as a potential alternative source of sulphur once the town's copper smelter closes.
These and many similar projects are still only at conceptual or pilot stage but India's Hindustan Zinc (HZNC.NS), opens new tab is scaling up with a $438 million, opens new tab commitment to process 10 million tons per year of tailings at its Rampura Agucha mine, the world's largest zinc mine.
LESS WASTE
While miners are collectively reassessing the value of legacy waste, they are also working out how to produce less waste in the first place.
This comes with both economic and environmental upside. The mining industry currently generates over seven billion tons of tailings per year and the amount is rising as ore grades fall.
Valterra to trial underground mining at Mogalakwena in 2026
VALTERRA Platinum will launch trial mining operations at its flagship Mogalakwena open-pit complex in late 2026, signalling confidence in platinum group metals (PGMs) amid a recent recovery in prices, said Reuters.
The South African miner plans to extract higher-grade ore from the underground Sandsloot pit development at the world’s largest open-pit PGM operation in Limpopo province. The move addresses declining ore quality that has plagued the sector for years, forcing companies into costlier and riskier deep mining operations.
Project General Manager Stephan Nothnagel told reporters in a media visit last week the firm could “truck the first ore out of the top part of the ore body” if capital allocation targets are met. The operation could potentially scale to 3.6 to 4.5 million tons annually beyond 2030.
Mogalakwena, comprising five open pits north of Johannesburg, generates approximately half of Valterra’s PGM output, making it the company’s most valuable asset. The underground expansion represents a significant vote of confidence in metals primarily used for vehicle catalysts and jewellery production, said Reuters.
The platinum industry has endured substantial challenges, with prices declining over two years as electric vehicle adoption reduces demand for autocatalysts. Miners have responded by curtailing supply, yet Valterra remains optimistic about market fundamentals.
Ukraine is welcoming bids for the right to develop a major lithium deposit in central Kirovohrad region as part of its minerals deal with the US, even as a legal dispute looms over ownership of the project.
The tender for lithium mining at the Dobra site was confirmed last week by Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, during an announcement of Ukraine’s approved plans to tap into its vastly underexplored natural resources.
According to the Ukrainian Geological Survey, the country’s critical minerals account for about 5% of the global total. Amongst the most prominent is lithium, for which it holds about a third of Europe’s endowment.
Lithium is a critical component in batteries and is mined in regions such as Australia and South America, but China dominates global processing. Western countries, including the US, are seeking to reduce reliance on Beijing for critical minerals, a push reinforced by President Donald Trump’s tariffs this year on a range of metals.
The Dobra tender is the first step in a minerals co-operation agreement signed in late April between Kyiv and Washington, a centrepiece of the Trump administration’s “transactional approach” to Ukraine. Under the deal, US companies will receive preferential access to mining projects, while profits will be reinvested locally.
Zambia’s main stock index is the top gainer globally in August, advancing 14.3% in the month as the nation cashes in on a copper boom.
The Lusaka Securities Exchange All Share Index is also leading year-to-date gains globally, at almost 56% in local currency terms. Measured in dollars, it’s up 84%, with only Ghana’s index doing better.
The biggest driver is a company that supplies electricity to mines in Africa’s second-biggest copper producer. Copperbelt Energy Corp. Plc’s stock has surged more than 75% this year, making it the first listed Zambian company to be worth more than $1 billion.
CEC expects first-half earnings per share to increase by 42%, the company said in a statement Thursday.
Zambia’s first-half copper production rose by 18% year-on-year to 439,644 metric tons. The government is targeting a record output of one million tons in 2025, while prices for the metal that’s used in electrical wiring have held strong at around $9,818 per ton on the London Metal Exchange.
That’s also helped to bolster Zambia’s currency as the country finalizes a years-long sovereign debt restructuring. The kwacha has appreciated by 19% against the dollar in 2025, making it one of the world’s best performers too.
Gold prices advanced to near-record levels on Friday as investors weighed US economic data and uncertainty around the Federal Reserve’s future.
Spot gold rose 0.8% to $3,445.87 per ounce as of 12:40 p.m. ET, on track for its best month since April. US gold futures jumped 1.1% to $3,513.50 per ounce, just $20 short of a new record high.
The gains come off the back of fresh US data that showed stubborn inflation, as personal consumption expenditures — the Fed’s favored price index — remained well above policymakers’ comfort zone. Still, US consumer spending rose in July by the most in four months, indicating healthy demand.
Traders have increased their bets on a 25-basis point rate cut by the US central bank at its September meeting to an 89% probability, up from 85% before the data came out.
A Fed rate cut would bode well for precious metals like gold, which yields no interest. Also supporting bullion is a lower US dollar, which is set for a monthly drop of 2%
“We have expectations of a Fed rate cut, or potentially two, throughout this year, (which is) generally supportive for commodity prices across the board, including gold and silver,” David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures, told Reuters on Friday.
Fed’s uncertain future
Meanwhile, questions surrounding the Federal Reserve’s independence continue to linger, following US President Donald Trump’s unprecedented move earlier this week to fire governor Lisa Cook. In an emergency hearing Friday, a federal judge said they will consider issuing an order to block the firing.
“Gold is benefiting from this uncertainty (around Fed independence), as shown by inflows into gold ETFs of just under 15 tons in the last two days. Nevertheless, the upside for gold above $3,400 is looking increasingly limited,” Commerzbank wrote in a note.
“Another layer of geopolitical uncertainty related to risks around the Fed and overall institutional independence is moving flows into gold,” Frank Monkam, head of macro trading at Buffalo Bayou Commodities, said in a Bloomberg interview.
