Gold production at Kumtor, Kyrgyzstan’s largest gold mine, will continue until at least 2050, President Sadyr Japarov said at a meeting with voters, reported 24.kg.
Japarov rejected reports that the mine could close in 2032. He said ore at the Central Pit, one of Kumtor’s main open pits, will run out in the coming years, but that this would not stop the whole operation. Equipment from the pit will move to the nearby Zhetim-Too deposit. “We intend to eventually deploy more than 100 units of heavy mining equipment,” he said. He urged citizens to rely on official information rather than speculation about the mine’s closure.
The president said Kyrgyzstan plans to develop all its mineral deposits on its own. Last week he announced that three gold deposits in Talas region would be developed by the state company Kyrgyzaltyn without foreign investors.
Kumtor sits at about 4,000 metres in the Tian Shan mountains of Issyk-Kul region and has long been the backbone of Kyrgyz industry, exports and budget revenue. The state took full control of the mine from Canada’s Centerra Gold in 2022 after a long dispute. Its future matters well beyond the mining sector, because gold is one of the country’s main exports and a pillar of its economic stability.
CentralasianLIGHT.org,
November 9, 2026