Kumtor Employees Held Seminar at Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University

published: 22 May 2017

On May 18, 2017, employees of Kumtor Gold Company held a seminar for students of Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University, Engineering Department. The purpose of this joint initiative is to maintain mutual cooperation and train a new generation of production professionals.

The University’s professors showed the Company employees their laboratories, research and academic. The KGC employees were invited to visit the University one year ago when a group of students of the University’s Chemical Engineering Department were on a visit at the Kumtor mine during which they were shown around the basic facilities involved in mining and gold production.
The seminar focused on five critical production stages, including mining, recovery, environmental responsibilities and hiring procedures. Kanybek Jumaliyev, Manager, Engineering and Geology, KGC, explained the peculiar features of gold production at a mine located at the altitude of 4,000 meters above sea level while Sadygali Jurayev, Senior Metallurgist, Mill, described the gold production cycle. Most questions that students and professors asked were concerned with the Company’s environmental programs. Olga Medoyeva, Manager, Environmental Projects, discussed KGC’s conservation programs implemented within the mine’s area and in the Sarychat-Ertash reserve founded in 1995 at the initiative of the Company. Aibek Abdyvaliyev, Senior Expert, Conservation and Compliance, presented infographics on water streams at Kumtor. At the end of the seminar, Darya Antanaitene, described the Company’s hiring procedures, saying that the Company was going to enroll students and graduates under two-year training and summer practice programs.

“I liked very much the students’ questions as I felt they are very interested. Yet, there were questions that led me to realize there were some people still totally ignorant of our Project or just misinformed. This is due to scarce information, I guess. But these things can be improved through further meetings, elucidation and discussions. For our part, we’re absolutely open and prepared for constructive dialogue,” said Aibek Abduvaliyev, Senior Expert, Conservation and Compliance, KGC.

“Both the students and professors had too many questions for us to be able to discuss properly all the debatable matters,” said Emilbek Omurzak uulu, Acting Dean, Chemical Engineering Department, Manas Kyrgyz-Turkish University. “We’re going to organize occasional seminars to discuss specific questions so that Kumtor employees have an opportunity to present detailed reports while the students and professors may ask their questions.”

Conducting seminars and delivering lectures at the Kyrgyz Republic’s universities have become common practice among Company employees. Such meetings with the faculty and students offer a good opportunity for professional gold miners to share experience with the younger generation and provide authentic information on the mine’s production process.