Kyrgyzstan’s stone resources

A Central Asian country of great natural beauty and proud nomadic traditions, Kyrgyzstan shares borders with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and China. It is the farthest eastern Central Asian republic of the former Soviet Union. With an area of 198.500 km2 the landscape is rugged and mountainous - the average elevation is 2.750 m and almost 90% lies more than 1.500 m above sea level. Most of the 5 million or so population live in the valleys of the north and west. Agriculture (chiefly livestock farming) is the main activity. Kyrgystan has one of the largest proven gold reserves in the world. Other important natural resources include abundant hydropower, significant deposits of rare earth metals, nepheline, mercury, bismuth, lead and zinc, and locally exploitable coal, oil, and natural gas. Decorative stone reserves will be discussed at length later on. Manufactures include light machinery, metals and food products.

After seven decades of Soviet rule, Kyrgyzstan emerged as an independent state in August 1991. Since then it has been the most progressive country in Central Asia enacting market reforms, and adopting democratic principles. Kyrgyzstan was the first CIS country to be accepted into the WTO. GDP growth was 6% in 2003. However an estimated 50% of the population lived below the poverty line. President Askar Akayev and his government are addressing this and other problems.

Stone - ancient and modern

Stone implements found in the Tien Shan mountains indicate the presence of human society in what is now Kyrgyzstan as many as 200.000 to 300.000 years ago. Several hundred years ago, decorative stone was used to a limited extent in important buildings in Osh, Kyrgyzstan´s second and oldest city, and elsewhere.

Today prospected reserves of high, medium and low strength decorative stones total 44,1 million m3, including 15,8 million m3 of igneous rocks (granites, granodiorites, gabbro, syenites, etc.), 14,1 million m3 of marbles, hard limestones, conglomerates and dolomites, and 14,2 million m3 of limestones and shelly limestones.

On 01.01.2003, according to official sources, 165 deposits and manifestations of facing and decorative stones had been recorded by the Kyrgyz authorities and classified as of magmatic, sedimentary or metamorphic origin.

The first group includes granitoid deposits situated mainly in the northern part of the country and associated with Caledonian intrusions of the North Tien Shan folded system, a component part of the Urals-Mongolian geosyncline belt.

Effusive varieties are represented by porphyrites, porphyries, diabases, picrites and other rocks. This group of decorative stones is found mainly within the confines of the Kyrgyz, Talas and Chatkal mountain ridges, and the northern foothills of the Alai and Terskey-Ala-Too ranges.

Sedimentary rocks are mainly found in southern Kyrgyzstan, whilst metamorphic varieties occur predominantly in Talas and Osh regions.

The present and future outlook

Of the 165 deposits and manifestations of decorative stone officially registered in Kyrgyzstan, 10 have been evaluated in detail, 6 to a considerable degree, and the remainder to a lesser extent. There are thought to be 68 highly promising sites, 30 of which are in northern Kyrgyzstan. In mid-2004 only three deposits were being worked in a regular, stable manner.

An increase in reserves at the Kaindinskoye granitoid sources (Fig 1) in Talas district is possible in view of the contiguous sectors where decorative varieties of porphyritic granites occur. The Aralskoye and Kaindinskoye-1 deposits are in essence extensions of the main Kaindinskoye source. Reserves of decorative stones of magmatic origin in Talas district are enhanced taking into account the Sutti-Bulak (52 million m3), Dzhangi-Turmysh (6 million m3) and Sul-Bakair (15 million m3) deposits.

Concerning rocks of sedimentary genesis in the district, there are the limestones of Ichkeletau sector with estimated reserves of 21 million m3, and the decorative conglomerates of Dzhargart-1 with an estimated 12 million m3 of reserves.

The principle type of decorative stone worked by processing factories in Talas district is of metamorphic origin. The Ichkeletau group of marble deposits - Chaartash (Fig 2), Talas, Gulderek (Fig 3), Svetloye and Tashkoro - are of the greatest practical significance. The estimated reserves in this group of marble deposits, combined with the granitoid rocks at Kaindinskoye, situated 10 km to the north of a stone processing factory, could acquire great significance in the future.

The light blue-green marbles from Dzhargart (Fig 4) with estimated reserves of 90 million m3 are a promising resource.

Reserves of magmatic decorative stones in Ysyk-Kol district could be increased in the future through additional study of granite shows at Bokon-bayevo and Vostochno-Ysyk-Kol, where estimated reserves are considerable. In Ysyk-Kol district there is the Ak-Ulen deposit of highly decorative bluish-grey and pinkish-grey syenites, individual irising varieties of which are similar to the Spanish syenites " Azul Aran".

Regarding stones of sedimentary genesis in Ysyk-Kol district, reserves of the decorative conglomerates of Lower Carbonaceous age at Karator have been estimated at 4,3 million m3.

Among metamorphic rocks in the district, the Paleozoic hard limestones at Poloschatoye and the highly decorative listvenites at Uchkalskoye deserve further study. Other potential sources of highly decorative stones in Ysyk-Kol district include the Sartal, Tengi and Oyulma deposits with estimated reserves of 13,6 million m3, and carbonate rocks with interesting textural and colour varieties, including the black limestones at Tostu with reserves of 5 million m3, the limestone breccia at Padsha-Ata with reserves of 10 million m3, the zebra-like decorative dolomites at Kashkasu with estimated reserves of 4 million m3, and the brownish-grey limestones at Khodzhatush. There are an estimated 5 million m3 reserves of Paleozoic decorative conglomerates at Chanach, and at Shumkmazar with reserves of around 60 million m3. Reserves of red coloured jaspers in the region around Khodzhagair are estimated at hundreds of millions of cubic metres, whilst reserves of highly decorative carbonate-serpentine breccia at Shamatelskoye and Orusbulakskoye are estimated at 400 million m3. Variable colour porcelain jasper at Tashkumyrskoye is a new type of decorative stone.

As regards rocks of metamorphic genesis in the south of Kyrgyzstan, the white marbles of Akart, Abshir, Aksu, Ravat and other locations are of considerable practical interest. Magmatic rocks deserving further study include granites at Misken with estimated reserves of 2 million m3, Kochkorata - over 5 million m3, Kainama - 5 million m3, Koksarekskoye - 1 million m3, and other locations. Unusual varieties of decorative stone include the green variegated granitoids at Kyzyl-Kungei, the black picrites at Nadirskoye, the gabbroids at Zarkarskoye and Sartolinskoye, and the pyroxenites at Kachala.

In Naryn district, variegated syenites of Permian age within the Ortotokoi syenite massif and found at Arsy and Kyzyl-Ompul merit special attention. Of practical interest is the north-western sector of the Kyzyl-Ompul deposit where reserves of giant porphyritic syenites have been estimated at over 15 million m3.

In Osh and Jalal-Abad districts, a complex of sedimentary formations offers the best possibilties for decorative stone extraction. An increase in the recovery of shelly limestones has been possible for many years.