On September 22, the XXVI session of the Intergovernmental Council on Exploration, Use and Protection of Subsoil took place in Samarkand, in which members of the Intergovernmental Council and representatives of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, the Executive Committee of the CIS, as well as the field of geology of Almalyk MMC JSC took part.

The meeting was opened by the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Council, Head of the Main Department of Geology under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan Oymukhammadzoda Ilkhomjon Sulton, who reported on the work done as Chairman of this council.

A representative of the CIS Executive Committee also delivered a welcoming speech.
In accordance with the Regulations on the Intergovernmental Council, the functions of the chairman of the Intergovernmental Council were transferred to the Minister of Mining and Geology of the Republic of Uzbekistan Bobir Islamov.

The thematic part of the session was devoted to the discussion of a number of topical issues aimed at developing cooperation between the CIS member states in the field of geology and subsoil use. Detailed information was presented on the results of the work of the geological services of the CIS member states from October 2022 to September 2023 on the implementation of the decisions of the XXV session of the Intergovernmental Council, on the progress of the implementation of the long-term plan for joint work of the CIS member states on exploration for 2023-2030. Issues such as training and advanced training, the search for new types of minerals, their use, the introduction of modern technologies, scientific research, development, and the results of geological exploration of deposits were also discussed.

During the session, a number of documents were signed, and the next, XXVII, session is planned to be held in Kyrgyzstan.

“The main goal of this event is the exchange of experience, information, cooperation in personnel training between the CIS countries,” shared Nafisa Dulabova, head of the department of the Ministry of Mining and Geology of the Republic of Uzbekistan. - We also discussed joint geological research in the border areas of our country and neighboring countries, the prevention of man-made or natural emergencies, and cooperation to ensure the safety of the population. Our main goal is to share cutting-edge research and laboratory testing.

Unless we develop international standards for laboratory analysis, we will not be able to properly evaluate minerals. Therefore, we have many projects that we are implementing jointly with neighboring countries. The issue of personnel in the field of geology comes first. For this, it is important to study foreign experience. We plan to cooperate with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the field of geological exploration. In this regard, our employees were in Kyrgyzstan and observed geological exploration work in the field and sampling.

We also strive to contribute to our country's economy by searching for rare metals and collaborating on technologies for their extraction. If we take the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex, which is a large industrial enterprise, then large-scale geological exploration work is being carried out here.

For reference: one of the main tasks of AMMC geologists is to involve existing reserves in production and increase reserve volumes. Currently, the Complex carries out mining operations and geological studies of copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead, tungsten, rare metals and ores from almost 20 deposits located in five regions of our republic.

In order to increase the investment attractiveness of the industry and the inflow of international investment, a transition to reporting forms of international standards is required. The JORC Code provides specific standards, guidelines and principles to support public reporting of mineral exploration results and mineral reserves. Based on this, in 2018 the Complex established cooperation with one of the most prestigious companies in the world - SRK Consulting (UK). Together with the experienced specialists of this company, a lot of work was done to reclassify the reserves of all AMMC mines based on the JORC Code.

It is worth noting that Almalyk MMC JSC was the first in the country to recalculate deposit reserves in accordance with the requirements of this Code. The Complex's geologists immediately digitize the information, using for this purpose special tablets designed for working in the field.

As part of the Almalyk project, historical and modern geological data of the Kalmakyr and Yoshlik I fields were analyzed: from 1931 to 2022, 2,522 wells (920,752 linear meters) were drilled, including 514 wells (248,153 linear meters) in 2019-2022.  Based on them, a database, 3D wireframe and block models were created.

Datashed and Logchief software from MaxGeo were used to process the information. Specialists from the production automation department developed the GeoLIMS software, which helped systematize and digitize the collected data, which is now convenient to use.

To date, 4 stages of geological exploration have been carried out to study the side flanks and deep horizons of the Kalmakyr mine and the Yoshlik I quarry.

To store core samples, 2 modern core storage facilities, designed for 60,000 boxes, were built and put into operation. This is one of the largest core storage facilities in Uzbekistan.

The geological studies carried out made it possible to recalculate the mineral reserves of the Kalmakyr mine and the Yoshlik I quarry and include them among the largest mining deposits in the world.

Currently, the Kalmakyr and Yoshlik I deposits of the Almalyk project are among the porphyry gold-copper deposits:

3rd place - in mineral reserves;

6th place - by the amount of copper in ore;

1st place - in terms of gold content in ore.