Uzbekistan sees gold rush after allowing private mining

DW (English)

Uzbekistan is among the top 10 gold producing countries, with most of the mining done by state-owned companies. After authorities also allowed private mining five years ago, Uzbekistan has experienced a gold rush.

Transcript

00:00This is what the gold rush in Uzbekistan looks like.

00:05Dust, rocks and a scorching sun.

00:09Dzamshet checks the quality of the gold-bearing ore

00:13and hopes he'll get lucky today.

00:16It's always different.

00:20Sometimes it's 30 grams, sometimes 100 grams,

00:24and sometimes just 2 grams a day.

00:28The biggest gold nugget we found was 7 grams.

00:34Gold is mined here using traditional methods.

00:37The gold-bearing rock is dumped into a sluice,

00:40washed and then sieved further.

00:42Due to its weight, the gold settles at the bottom.

00:45Around 600 cubic meters of rock are washed here every day.

00:49By the way, the gold-washing machine is handmade.

00:52There are several gold mines like this one,

00:55located about 100 kilometers from the industrial city of Navoi in central Uzbekistan.

01:00Uzbeks, Chinese and Russians work here.

01:04Private gold mining is a rather secretive business.

01:07No one talks openly about mining volumes or profits.

01:11The mine we visited covers an area of 5 hectares.

01:15Uzbek entrepreneurs won it at an auction,

01:18paying $75,000 for a three-year contract.

01:22Mined gold is sold at market prices to state companies or jewelers.

01:27This became possible five years ago,

01:29when Uzbek authorities legalized private gold mining.

01:33Since then, a gold rush has taken hold.

01:36Though people have been looking for gold in this area for over 20 years.

01:42In the past, people used to mine gold by hand.

01:45But now they started working in open pits, and everything is legal.

01:49I've been mining gold since I was a child.

01:51I've always enjoyed it. I work here with pleasure.

01:55However, private miners do not extract as much as the state does.

02:00This is Muruntau, one of the largest gold deposits in the world.

02:05In 2022, more than 50 tons of gold were mined there.

02:10Experts estimate that Muruntau's reserves exceed 4,500 tons of gold.

02:16Uzbekistan produces more than 100 tons of gold annually,

02:20placing it among the top ten gold-producing countries in the world.

02:25In 2023, the country exported $8 billion worth of gold.

02:32However, there is a darker side to Uzbekistan's gold industry, too.

02:36Illegal mining.

02:38The locations of these operations are not public.

02:42People die in the rubble because they dig deep tunnels to keep the mines hidden.

02:55When you're digging, you need electricity for the equipment,

02:58so they use underground generators.

03:06These run on petrol, and exhaust fumes fill the air.

03:12Causing suffocation and death.

03:17While there are profits from illegal mining, there are also many deaths.

03:24And no one is held accountable.

03:28But let's return to the gold mine near the village of Saikidshau.

03:32Dzamshed drives the ore to be washed.

03:35He manages to unload about 50 truckloads every shift.

03:39Every ten days, he visits his family in Samarkand.

03:43Meanwhile, the sun sets over the mine, but gold mining continues.

03:48It goes on through the night.

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