Kentor Gold: Andash Update & the Kurulti Process

A couple of days ago Kentor Gold released an update on their Andash project in the Kyrgyz Republic. The announcement stated that a general village meeting was held on the 16^th of December and that this meeting was attended by a number of village stakeholders including the council of elders, the women’s committee and the youth committee. The outcome of this meeting was that a formal Kurulti (a traditional decision making meeting) will be held regarding the development of the Andash project.

At first glance it appeared that this announcement was just saying a meeting had taken place to arrange another meeting and that Kentor Gold was prepping us for a slight delay in the outcome of the project. This belief was compounded by the fact that management had previously stated that a decision was expected before the end of the year and I therefore thought that this was their polite way of saying that a decision was close, but not here yet.

Anyway I have done some research into the Kurulti process and re-read the announcement a number of times and the thing that strikes me is that “Representative of government, parliament, regional and provincial administrations will be invited to attend. The one item to be considered at this meeting is the granting of a social licence for the development of the Andash project.” This now leads me to believe that this Kurulti process is more likely to be a formal way of the village saying “yes” to Kentor Gold. This obviously makes sense as whenever a decision is made a formal announcement/commitment to that decision needs to be released. I.e. It’s not like every member of the village is going to contract Kentor directly and let them know how they feel.

My opinion towards the announcement has therefore changed and I feel a lot more comfortable about the process. Obviously we don’t have any idea of timing, although Simon did hint that it may be in the New Year when he said “we anticipate moving the Andash project forward with a full social licence in the New Year” but it certainly seems like a positive outcome is almost within reach. But as they say a deal is not done until you see the signature on the dotted line so I’ll hold my excitement for the time being.

As always please do your own research and consult a financial advisor.  The above comments are purely speculation on my part.

Link to announcement