TASHKENT

Uzbekistan will offer 50 mining and prospective fields to foreign and domestic investors this year “on the basis of open and transparent market mechanisms” in an effort to identify the country’s mineral reserves and raise mining production.

The move was initiated by the country’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev who had made the attraction of foreign investors one of the top priorities of his ambitious reform agenda.

The Central Asian country makes efforts to improve its investment climate after more than two decades of economic isolation that kept foreign private businesses at a distance.

Mirziyoyev signed a decree instructing the government to accelerate exploration works in the mineral-rich country by attracting foreign investors.

The same document envisages setting up the Uzbek Geological Exploration joint-stock company by merging seven regional state companies to make the geological surveys effective as well as the widespread introduction of digitalisation in the industry.

The State Committee for Geology and Mineral Resources will act as the main body to oversee the state policy on geological explorations, use and subsoil protection and managing relations in the mining industry.

Uzbekistan, with only 40 percent of its territory being studied in detail and the rest described as “a huge undiscovered potential,” also plans to draft a new edition of its Law on Subsoil, according to the document.

Permits for the use of less explored subsoil for geological exploration will be issued online through the single interactive public services portal on a first-come-first-served basis, it said.

Currently, the State Geology Committee put up for auction 34 subsoil plots containing minerals, including gold, uranium, tungsten, silver, coal and other minerals. It says some fields are for prospecting, and some are for mining.

Uzbekistan is among the ten leading countries of the world for the reserves of gold, uranium, copper, potassium salts, phosphorites and kaolin, the Geology Committee said.

Since 2018, a global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has been advising the State Geology Committee to develop the strategy to accelerate attracting foreign investment, as well as the portfolio of priority areas and deposits to be offered to foreign investors.

BCG is also advising on drafting criteria and requirements for the selection of investors, ensuring respect for the interests and property rights of investors, the committee said.

Two years ago Uzbekistan allowed private businesses to mine gold in a bid to crash illegal gold-digging, which involved some 10,000 people in a season and produced around one tonne of gold per year.

Currently, private gold diggers and legal entities can obtain licenses at the auction for the right to use subsoil plots, which will not exceed one hectare, for mining precious metals for a period of three years.