As most of the other Central Asian countries, Kyrgyzstan is an energyrich country with a wide range of minerals. However, the main mineral mined in the country is gold, which has made the gold mining industry one of the pillars of the Kyrgyzstan’s economy. The major gold mine in the country that significantly contributes to the economic development of Kyrgyzstan is the Kumtor gold mine. The Kumtor gold mine is the largest open pit gold mine in Central Asia, having 68,509 tons of proven reserves (7,778 tons) and probable reserves (60,729) with 190.85 tons of contained gold at an average grade of 2.1 grams per ton as of December 31, 2014.
Saule Akhmetkaliyeva was a research fellow in the Eurasian Research Institute at H.A.Yassawi Kazakh Turkish International University. She holds a BS in petroleum engineering from the Kazakh National Technical University named after K.I. Satbayev and a MS in Environmental Science from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi with a GPA of 4.0. Saule has conducted research on new methods of matrix acidizing of carbonate formations in Karachaganak field, Kazakhstan for her bachelor’s degree, and a research on advanced sedimentary analysis of sediments from Marmara Gölü, Turkey for her master’s thesis.