‘Kumtor’ has reduced its ore output by 20 per cent, but has maintained gold production at over 12 tonnes

This is 471 kilograms, or 3.8 per cent, less than a year earlier. Whilst the volume of marketable ore mined fell by as much as 20 per cent, improvements in gold recovery helped to partially offset the decline.

The total volume of mining operations at Kumtor in 2025 amounted to 182.8 million tonnes — 3.3 per cent less than in 2024. The volume of marketable ore mined fell from 7.3 million to 5.8 million tonnes, or by 20.3 per cent.

At the same time, the quality of the ore mined improved. The average gold content rose from 2.27 to 2.39 grams per tonne. This is 5.3 per cent higher than the previous year’s figure.

The gold processing plant processed 6.45 million tonnes of ore — 70,000 tonnes more than in the previous year. However, the volume processed was 646,000 tonnes higher than the volume of marketable ore mined in 2025. Consequently, part of the plant’s feedstock was supplied by previously accumulated ore stocks.

By contrast, the average gold grade of the ore supplied to the plant fell from 2.68 KGS to 2.46 KGS per tonne. However, the gold recovery rate rose from 73.25 per cent to 76 per cent, an increase of 2.75 percentage points.

As a result, gold production fell much less sharply than ore output, by 3.8 per cent compared with 20.3 per cent. For the year as a whole, the company produced 12 tonnes 81 kilograms.

Unit costs directly attributable to mining operations remained virtually unchanged at $1.27 per tonne, compared with $1.26 a year earlier. This figure should not be confused with the full cost of gold production.

Commercial gold production at the deposit began in 1997. According to the company’s published annual statistics, from 1997 to 2024, ‘Kumtor’ produced approximately 468.6 tonnes of gold.

If the 2025 figure is added, a total of 480.6 tonnes of gold will have been produced over the entire period of the deposit’s operation.

Following additional geological exploration in 2024, a further 147.4 tonnes of gold were added to the state balance sheet. In March 2025, the Minister for Natural Resources, Meder Mashiev, estimated Kumtor’s total reserves at 261 tonnes of gold.

Furthermore, in 2025, the mine’s tailings storage facility reserves – a further 121 tonnes of gold and 225 tonnes of silver – were added to the state balance sheet.