DUSHANBE, December 26, Asia-Plus - Kazakhstan’s S.A. Minerals is investing US$5 million in developing the Ak Jilga silver deposit in the Murgab district of Gorno Badakhshan, Azim Ibrohim, head of the Tajik Main Geology Administration, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, specialists from Tajikistan’s Pamir Geology Expedition are currently work at the deposit to determine the silver reserve of the deposit.  “We hope the work will yield good results,” Ibrohim said.  

After the work on estimation of the silver reserve of the Ak Jilga deposit is finished, the Kazakh company will begin developing the deposit in a joint venture and an ore refinery will be built there.  According to him, a license for prospecting for the reserve and analysis is usually granted for 7-8 years.  

The geology administration head added that the first works on prospecting for silver reserve at the Ak Jilga deposit were carried out in 1979 already.  “However, specialists that time failed to estimate the silver resources of Ak Jilga,” Azim Ibrohim noted.  

Ak Jilga is located near the settlement of Alichur in the Murgab district of Gorno Badakhshan.