Kyrgyz highlanders battle Chinese miners to preserve pristine ecosystem, 07 September 2022

... It is this fragile ecosystem and the pastoral way of life that locals and activists say is being threatened by a Chinese company that is building a road nearby to service a future mine and a gold processing plant...

Consultations with the community on the future of a highland pasture called Tokhtazan began only after Oriel Gold had secured a long-term license for the deposit...

According to Ramanov and several other Kyzyl-Beyit residents who spoke to Eurasianet, the company initially pledged that ore extracted at Tokhtazan, where residents of three villages graze their livestock, would not be processed in the area.  The company later acknowledged that it was, in fact, building a plant that would be situated above Tokhtazan, closer to the source of glacial streams that flow through the villages before reaching the Naryn River...

Jyldyzbek Koshaliyev, an activist in Kyzyl-Beit [...] told Eurasianet that he feared “cyanide will be discharged into waters” that the villagers use. During one meeting, Oriel Gold tricked 51 villagers into signing a document in support of its activities, Koshaliyev alleged. The villagers had thought they were merely confirming their attendance at the meeting, he said...