Hydro Power Station
The Sandalash River provides the project with the potential of a run of river Hydro Electric Power Station which would allow for low cost power. The company conducted a preliminary study and identified four Hydro power locations. Water measurements have been carried out on site for a number of years. It is believed that the most economic way would be to commence production by using diesel generators and, once the plant is in full production, to tender the construction of the HPS on a BOT basis..
Roads
An all weather road passes within 50km of the project, thereafter a gravel road is used which provides project access for most of the year. This gravel road is suitable for exploration purposes but a new road will be constructed for operations. The surveying and preliminary design of a route for a new road. Has been complete late in 2008.
Accessibility
The nearest railway stations are at Namangan in neighbouring Uzbekistan and Maymak in Kyrgyzstan, some 180 km from the project area and the nearest airports are in Bishkek, Osh, Jalalabad, Talas and Jangy-Bazar.
The Chaarat deposit is situated some 320km south-west of Bishkek and 145 km north-east of Tashkent in Uzbekistan. Access from Bishkek is normally via the town of Kara-Balta and the Too Ashu Pass to Otmok. Thereafter there is a gravel road to Taldi Bulak over the Otmok pass and paved roads to just beyond the village of Kyzyl Adyr.
All roads after Kyzyl Adyr to site are gravel with two significant mountain passes, the Kara Bura and Kumbel, over the Sandalash Range, with flatter areas through the Kara Bura and Chatkal River valleys. There is alternative access into the Chatkal valley through Jangy-Bazar but the Kumbel Pass still makes winter access difficult. The Company has commissioned local civil engineers to reconnoitre and survey an alternative route to site along the Sandalash River which would avoid the Kumbel pass and provide secure year-round access and will develop this study to full feasibility study. We recognise that infrastructure development will need to be accelerated in order to meet our development aims and will be acting upon the results of the feasibility study accordingly.
Climate and Vegetation
The climate around the western part of Kyrgyzstan is very diverse from hot summers with temperatures reaching +33ºC to cold snowy winters at -25°ะก with extreme daily and seasonal temperature ranges. At lower elevations, the snow-free period lasts from March to December and in the higher parts from June to October, although mountain peaks are covered by snow throughout the year. The average annual precipitation is 1000 mm with most of the snow falling between October and February and rain between March and May followed by a dry season from June to September. The prevailing winds are north-westerly.
There are no permanent residents in the Sandalash River Valley. The area is not used for cultivation and the near-treeless, grassy slopes are given over to pasture by the Kyrgyz people during the summer for grazing of sheep, horses and cattle. This seasonal land use by domestic animals is the main branch of the local economy.