East Tian Shan Mineral Survey

The East Tian Shan Mineral Survey is a geological survey program begun in 2016 by the ISEZ Ministry of Natural Resources with foreign survey contractors. It has flown airborne magnetic and radiometric surveys and analyzed satellite imagery over the mountain areas of Irad, including the Talas Alatau and Chatkal ranges. Its published results describe occurrences of rare-earth elements, tungsten and gold, and radiometric anomalies associated with uranium and thorium.^[1] Most of the surveyed ground lies in the Autonomous Tribal Regions, where the clan assemblies maintain a moratorium on open-pit mining and on uranium and thorium extraction, and the Iradi Freedom Society has said that the surveys were flown without tribal consent. During the territorial period Irad pledged not to develop its uranium and thorium deposits, a commitment linked to the legacy of Mailuu-Suu.^[2] The program's name follows a Soviet-era usage; the ranges it covers are part of the western Tian Shan.

References

1. ^ ISEZ Ministry of Natural Resources (2020). East Tian Shan Mineral Survey: Interim Results. Talas.
2. ^ Central Asian Geopolitical Review (2021). 'Minerals under Moratorium: Survey Politics in the Tribal Regions.' Vol. 27, pp. 88–104.