Kyrgyzstan on Thursday granted Austrian-based private equity vehicle, Global Gold GmbH, a licence to mine a gold deposit which has so far been developed by Britain's Oxus Gold Plc.
Oxus says it has invested $50 million in Jerooy, the Central Asian state's No 2 gold deposit. Oxus has been fighting a campaign to recover its licence since it was revoked in 2004.
On Thursday, a Global Gold official said the government had finally granted the licence to the Austrian-based firm. "We've got the licence. This means we can start preparing a feasibility study and preparing for construction of a factory, storage facilities and roads," said Viktor Yefremov.
State-owned gold company Kyrgyzaltyn announced in April that Global Gold, managed by a Cyprus-registered company called Strategic Investment Group Ltd, would take over operation of the Jerooy mine. Oxus has not given up its campaign and served a notice of arbitration on the government of Kyrgyzstan last month.