Tajikistan recorded a doubling of foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in H1 2022 with the majority directed to the country’s mining industry (US$89M), according to Sadi Kodirzoda, the Chairman of the State Committee for Investment and State Property Management of Tajikistan.

China plays a significant role in the Tajik economy by supporting local infrastructural projects linked with Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative,  China is by far Tajikistan’s main source of FDI. The main project at the focus of the investments is the US$136M gold-antimony Talco Gold joint venture between the Tajik Aluminium Company (Talco) and China’s Tibet Huayu Mining.

Chinese antimony ingot producers have struggled to secure sufficient feed since 2021. In 2022, supply tightness was exacerbated by limited supply from Russia and from Anzob in Tajikistan, the latter ramping up its own ingot production significantly as a non-Chinese alternative to supply critical materials to the USA and EU. Despite lack of supply, prices have retracted slightly from their March-April highs as demand and economic woes in China determined the market sentiment.

The Talco Gold JV is developing the Konchoc deposit, which is slated to produce 2.2t of gold and 16ktpy of antimony.  At full capacity, the project would account for around 15% of global antimony ore production and plug a significant feedstock gap in China, secured through Chinese ownership. With several processing facilities in China already geared up to process co-product gold-antimony concentrates, Project Blue forecasts Konchoc to be the next new major source of antimony to come to market.