On the eve of the state visit of the President of Uzbekistan to the Republic of Korea, the chairman of the Uzbek geology committee, Bobur Islamov held a series of talks in Seoul, the Uzbek Presidency website said.
The Geology committee and Korean partners reportedly reached an agreement on geological survey and development of four gold facilities. Initially, it is planned to disburse 10 million dollars of Korean investments for geological study of promising areas for identification of new mineral deposits.
The Sautbay tungsten deposit development project in Navoi province implemented wiith Shindong Resources will be continued. In 2018-2019, it is planned to increase the raw material base for the future facility, the project cost is $ 3 million.
An agreement was reached with Hanjin D&B, to increase up to 15 modern hydraulic drilling rigs in an intent to modernize the Uzbek geological and oil and gas companies.
In addition, an agreement was reached with the National University of Chonnam on scientific and technical cooperation. In the near future, it is planned to engage Korean teaching staff for short and medium-term training courses in Uzbekistan.
In terms of reserves of gold, uranium, copper, potassium salts, phosphorites and kaolin, Uzbekistan is one of the top countries of the world. 1931 deposits were discovered on the territory of the country, including 814 - construction materials for various purposes, 624 - potable and mineral groundwater, 235 - hydrocarbons, 152 - metals; 37 - ore, 32 – chemical, 30 - raw gemstones and 7 - coal and oil shale.
Only about 20% of Uzbekistan’s territory is studied in detail The authorities are taking measures to boost foreign investment inflows in the industry. Currently, the portfolio of investment proposals comprises 111 promising sites for geological exploration and 29 deposits for extraction of strategically important types of solid minerals (gold, copper, uranium, rare and rare-earth metals, etc.). The Geology committee is preparing proposals to expand this list.
