Silver

According to explored deposits of silver, Tajikistan occupies a leading position in Central Asia. In most deposits, silver is associated with lead and lead-zinc ores. The main explored reserves of silver ores are concentrated in Northern Tajikistan - in the Altyntopkan and Central Karamazar ore regions, where a powerful mining industry is developed. Until recently, the Altyn-Topkan Ore Administration operated, the lead-zinc deposits Altyn-Topkan and Paybulak. The concentrate of polymetallic ores containing such associated components as bismuth, cadmium, indium, silver and other elements was supplied by the mining administration to the Almalyk mining and metallurgical plant in the Republic of Uzbekistan. At present, all mining and geological works have been suspended in the Altyn-Topkan ore region. In this region, the Adrasmanskiy (former lead-zinc) mining and processing plant based the reserves of complex silver-bearing ores of the Eastern Konimansur deposit (approved by the USSR State Reserves Committee) operates. Until 1997, copper-bismuth and lead-silver ores were processed at the ore-processing plant, and concentrates were sent to the CIS processing enterprises, in particular, to the Shimkent lead plant (Kazakhstan).

As a result of technical re-equipment, the factory (according to preliminary calculations) is capable of processing up to 600 thousand tons of ore from the Konimansur deposit per year.

In recent years, the plant has been working with indicators below planned, and often even left idle due to a lack of working capital, although the Adrasmansky ore mining and processing plant is located in the area of concentration of significant reserves of lead-zinc, lead-silver, fluorite-silver and copper-bismuth ores, allowing the large mining enterprise operate for decades. In the immediate vicinity of this deposit, one of the largest silver ore deposits, Bolshoi Konimansur, was explored. In accordance with the feasibility study developed back in 1988, it was planned to build a mining enterprise with an annual capacity of 15 million tons of ore, in addition to the annual production of hundreds of tons of silver it could produce a significant amount of lead, zinc, sulfuric acid, building materials, etc. However, with the collapse of the USSR, the issue of bringing this field into operation was postponed for an indefinite period. In addition to these objects, preliminary exploration of two more silver deposits is underway in Tajikistan - Akdzhilga in the Pamirs, the ores of which contain hundreds of grams of silver per ton and Mirkhantsky, near the Taror gold deposit, which is in very favorable mining condition.

The development of these deposits will allow Tajikistan to take one of the leading places in the CIS and in the world for the production of silver. With an annual profit of 50 tons of silver, the Konimansuri Kalon reserves would last 150 years.

 In 2015, foreign and domestic investors established the Nukrafom enterprise in Istiklol city at the sum of 16 million somoni to process silver ore waste of the Kandjol deposit with a processing capacity of 40 thousand tons of silver ore waste or the equivalent of 2 tons of silver per year.

Silver is the second most important way to invest in precious metals after gold. In the world markets, today the price of silver attracts traders, who usually use this precious metal to maintain the stability of their assets during periods of instability in the global economy and financial markets. In addition, the cost of silver today also affects the industry, since this precious metal is actively used in the production of various industrial goods, including high-tech industries.

This precious metal has been known to mankind for centuries. Dishes, weapons, jewelry, etc. were made of silver at different times. In the modern world, it is widely used in the jewelry industry, as well as in medicine and pharmaceuticals.

Silver and medicine have been linked since ancient times. The precious metal has been used as a disinfectant for water. Antibacterial paper coated with silver nitrate is also used to soothe burns and external wounds. Some types of prostheses are made from alloys of this metal.