Zarafshan Newmont Joint Venture- Third facility

Overview
Project Summary Document
Environmental and Social Documentation
Procurement
Complaints

Project ID 6405

Status Complete

Location

Uzbekistan

Business Sector

Natural Resources

Notice Type

Private

Project timeline

Exploratory
Passed Concept Review
Passed Structure Review
Passed Final Review
Board Approved
Signed
Implementing
Completed

Project ID 6405

Status Complete

Location

Uzbekistan

Business Sector

Natural Resources

Notice Type

Private

Environmental Category

Approval Date

17 Oct 2000

Disclosure date

26 Sep 2000

As per section 1.4.2 (iii) of the Directive on Access to Information: "For Projects approved by Bank management where the Board of Directors has delegated the approval authority, the PSD shall be disclosed at the start of the relevant no-objection notification period to a member country of the Bank in accordance with Article 13 (iii) of the Agreement Establishing the EBRD."

Project Description

An EBRD loan will facilitate the expansion of Zarafshan-Newmont (ZN), a heap leaching facility that processes ore from the Muruntau gold mine near Zarafshan in Uzbekistan. Muruntau is the largest gold mine in the former Soviet Union.

An EBRD loan would facilitate the construction of a leach pad required to process additional ore. The expansion would extend the life of the project by nine years, until 2014, thereby continuing to generate significant hard currency revenues and by demonstrating continued access to Western financial markets for Uzbekistan.

Transition Impact

The Bank’s original investment in ZN was the first major foreign investment in Uzbekistan and as a result it has had a significant demonstration effect. It is anticipated that this third loan facility will have the same effect.

The Client

(ZN) is a joint venture between Newmont Mining Corporation (who operate the project) and two Uzbek entities. The company is a crushing and leaching operation that processes existing stockpiles of ore. Construction began in 1993 and production in 1995. Over 55 tonnes of gold has been produced to date.

EBRD Finance

A US$ 30 million (€33.3 million) loan. In 1993, the Bank extended a US$105 million A/B loan that has been repaid in full. In 1995, the Bank extended a further US$ 30 million loan.

Project Cost

US$ 276million (€306.4 million).

Environmental Impact

The project was screened B/1 requiring an audit of the existing facility and an analysis of the impacts associated with the expansion. A full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was undertaken on the original project, which reviewed the adequacy of proposed mitigation measures included in the project design. There is no habitation in the immediate vicinity of the project site and the nearest watercourse is 250 km from the site. Most of the workforce at the mine travels from Zarafshan, some 30 km away. ZN has been operating the project since July 1995 in compliance with all applicable environmental legal requirements set out in the Bank's Loan Agreement and by the Republic of Uzbekistan. This has been confirmed by regular monitoring reports received by the Bank and independent reports from the Bank's engineers who also confirm that ground water monitoring data show no indications of ground water contamination from the heap leach activities. An EAU representative undertook a monitoring visit in June 2000.

The planned expansion facilities have been designed to produce zero discharge to surface and ground water, using practices and design standards applied in the United States. Impacts to air and water quality are expected to be minimal if not negligible.

The design presented in the preliminary engineering study and report is similar to that used at heap projects in the United States and the State of Nevada by Newmont Mining Corporation. It will meet the level of protection defined by the State of Nevada’s Regulations for the Design, Operations, Construction and Closure of Mined Facilities. ZN has constructed and is operating this heap leach facility in a manner, which would comply with the Nevada State Regulations and all applicable Uzbek Regulations.

Technical Cooperation

None.

Transition impact

ETI Score:40

PSD last updated

01 Feb 2019

Business opportunities

For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.

For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement: Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com

General enquiries

EBRD project enquiries not related to procurement:
Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com

Public Information Policy (PIP)

The PIP sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders so as to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations. Please visit the Public Information Policy page below to find out how to request a Public Sector Board Report.
Text of the PIP

Environmental and Social Documentation is not available for this project.

Selected procurement notices related to this project may be shown below. Further procurement opportunities related to this and other projects, if available, maybe be viewed in the EBRD Procurement Portal.

The EBRD's Environmental and Social Policy (ESP), Access to Information policy (AIP) and Project Accountability Policy (PAP) enable sound and sustainable development in its projects. The Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM) deals with complaints about environmental, social and disclosure matters related to the Bank’s investments.

No complaints about this project have been made so far.

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