Amantaitau Gold Fields to produce 12 tonnes of gold in Uzbekistan in 2005

Interfax November 18 Uzbek-British joint venture Amantaitau Gold Fields plans to produce 370,000 troy ounces of gold (roughly 12 tonnes) in Uzbekistan in 2005, the company's general director Richard Watts told reporters on Wednesday. The company is expected to have produced 150,000 ounces of gold by the end of 2004, having produced 75,667 ounces in the first half of the year, Watts said. Amantaitau Gold Fields is looking to invest $15.7 million in expanding output at the Amantaitau and Vysokovoltnoye deposits in 2005, $7.8 million at the former and $7.9 million at the latter. Oxus Resources Corp, one of the company's founders, holds a 50% stake in Amantaitau Gold Fields. Uzbekistan's state geology and mineral resources committee holds 40% and the Navoi mining and metals combine 10%.