* Gold Fields JV signs agreement with villagers
* Plans to resume drilling for copper, gold, molybdenum
* State geology agency must also sign agreement
* Miners hope new government will boost investment
By Robin Paxton
ALMATY, Jan 12 (Reuters) – South African miner Gold
Fields has signed an agreement with Kyrgyz villagers
that will enable it to resume drilling at a prospective copper
deposit three months after an arson attack by horsemen on its
geologist camp.
Foreign miners active in the Central Asian state are pinning
hopes on a new government to stamp out corruption that has
stifled investment in the mining sector of the impoverished
ex-Soviet republic, where a single gold mine contributes a tenth
of gross domestic product (GDP).
Talas Copper Gold, a joint venture between Gold Fields and
Britain’s Orsu Metals, suspended drilling when local
villagers received death threats and its camp was attacked in
October by horsemen wielding sticks and petrol bombs.
The new agreement between the company and the community of
Aral village, a copy of which has been obtained by Reuters, will
give local residents priority when staff are recruited and
compensate landowners for any material damage that might occur.
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