Navoi’s Q1 output value doubles as gold prices soar

Uzbekistan’s Navoi Mining & Metallurgical Co. said first-quarter output doubled in dollar terms as gold prices soared.

Gold production by value in the first three months of 2025 jumped to $2.1 billion (C$2.9 billion), Navoi said in an e-mailed statement dated Thursday. Output at the world’s fourth-largest gold producer rose 0.7% from the same quarter a year earlier to 753,500 oz. 

Production optimization efforts at the Muruntau-Myutenbay mine yielded cost savings of $61 million, the company also said. Muruntau-Myutenbay is home to what the company considers to be the world’s largest open-pit gold deposit with a resource base of more than 101 million ounces.

Navoi spent $118.4 million during the quarter on its capital investment program. This includes initiatives to expand several processing plants to boost production across its mines and development work to tap into other deposits such as the Zarmitan underground deposit.

Meanwhile, Navoi is continuing its geological exploration work to develop its vast gold resource base, which is currently estimated at 148 million ounces.

While state-owned, Navoi could become a publicly listed company as soon as this year. That’s according to an analysis by La Mancha Resource Capital, a private equity firm specializing in investments in the mining sector.