21 June (Friday)
Visit to Stewart Assay and Environmental Laboratories – Transfer to Kaji Sai
Company website https://www.sael.kg
The testing laboratory of Stewart Assay and Environmental Laboratories LLC is an independent analytical laboratory with more than 25 years of experience in the geochemical services market. The company was registered with the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic in 1996. The official opening of the laboratory was in August 1997. The main activity of the Company’s laboratory is technical testing, which includes sample preparation, geochemical analysis, analysis of environmental protection samples and metallurgical testing.
Schedule:
08.30 Departure from the Novotel Bishkek hotel to Kara-Balta (70 km)
10:00 Visit to the Stewart Assay and Environmental Laboratories
- Occupational health and safety briefing
- Lab Visit
- Meetings with the laboratory management
11:30 Departure from the laboratory to the ethno-complex “Supara” (80 km)
13:00 Lunch at the ethno-complex Supara
14:30 Departure from the ethno-complex “Supara” to Kaji – Sai village (291 km)
19:30 Arrival to Kaji – Sai village. Check-in at the Natalia Hotel
20:00 Dinner at the Natalia Hotel
22 June (Saturday)
Visit to Kumtor Mine – Transfer to Bishkek Novotel
Company website https://www.kumtor.kg/en/
The Kumtor mine, located in the Kyrgyz Republic, is one of the largest gold mines in Central Asia. The deposit is approximately 350 kilometres away from Bishkek, the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic. It has been producing gold since 1997 and has yielded over 13.8 million ounces of gold as of June 30, 2022. The mine operates at an impressive altitude of 13,000 feet, making it the second-highest mine globally, surpassed only by Newmont Gold mine Yanacocha in Peru. Kumtor is an open-pit mine situated in the southern region of the Central Tien-Shan, at an elevation of 4,000 meters above sea level. It operates in a permafrost zone.
Schedule:
05:30 Breakfast at the Hotel Natalia, check-out
06:00 Departure from the hotel on the route Kaji – Sai – Wave (134 km)
07:00 Departure by Volna-Rudnik special transport
09:00 Arrival at the mine. Passing the inspection at the K-15 checkpoint
09.30 Medical examination, introductory briefing, issuance of PPE kit: helmet, goggles, boots, jackets.
10:00 Welcome coffee at the mine administration. Meeting with the management.
11:00 Mining Machinery Workshop
11:40 Quarry: Central Quarry 3990 observation deck; Sary-Tor and the South-West.
12:10 Mill: control room, a tour of the mill sites
13:00 Lunch in the mine canteen. After lunch – departure to the lower sites
13:40 Petrov Lake. The observation deck next to the pumping station
14:00 Tailings dam
14:20 Handover of PPE kits at the mine administration. Passing the inspection, departure of the group from the mine to Bishkek
15:00 Departure of the group from the mine to Bishkek (420 km)
22:00 Arrival to Novotel Bishkek