Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — An online auction for the right to conduct geological exploration at the gold-bearing Pirali site in Navoi region was held on the E-auksion platform, according to the official website.

The bidding, which began on the morning of August 21, lasted 23 hours and 29 minutes. After 461 bids, the winner was declared as NBK 111, offering 99.09 billion soums — 24 times higher than the starting price.

According to the Unified State Register of Enterprises and Organizations (EGRPO), NBK 111 was registered in Tashkent in May 2024 and is engaged in non-ferrous metal ore mining. The company’s charter capital stands at 1.005 billion soums. A 40% stake belongs to Chinese citizen Zhang Qian, while the remaining 60% is owned by Nurmahmad Pulatov, who also controls 90.7% of Quwwatt Group (glass production in Jizzakh) and 100% of BEEK Electro (electrical appliance manufacturing). All three enterprises share the same contact phone number.

The Pirali site covers an area of 484 hectares, located in Navbahor district, 20.5 km northwest of Zafarabad settlement and 38.5 km north of the city of Navoi. Preliminary reserves are estimated at 2.4 tons of gold.

This week alone, three other major prospective gold deposits have also been auctioned. The Temirchi site in Navoi region fetched 67.78 billion soums, while the Terekli site near Almalyk surged almost 20-fold to 81.8 billion soums.