The changes were introduced under a Cabinet of Ministers resolution adopted on July 30 and published on the legal information portal Lex.uz. The new pricing is intended to improve the efficiency of online auctions for mineral-rich land plots.
Under the new rules, the starting price for the right to extract precious metals through artisanal mining will increase to 100 base calculating amounts (BCAs) per hectare. At the current BCA rate, this amounts to UZS 41.2 million, rising to UZS 44 million from September 1.
The current starting price is 35 BCAs, or UZS 14.42 million per hectare.
The resolution also raises starting prices for exploration rights across several categories of mineral resources.
The starting price for geological exploration of hydrocarbon and gold deposits will increase from 6,500 BCAs to 10,001 BCAs, equivalent to UZS 4.12 billion at the current rate and UZS 4.4 billion after the BCA increase takes effect in September.
For deposits of other precious and non-ferrous metals, the starting price will rise from 1,300 BCAs to 5,000 BCAs, while exploration rights for other ore minerals will increase from 650 BCAs to 2,500 BCAs. The starting price for non-metallic mineral deposits will be raised from 36 BCAs to 300 BCAs.
The government has also increased the initial fee for obtaining extraction rights for gold, other ore minerals and hydrocarbons. The rate will rise from 0.15% to 0.6% of the value of extracted minerals.
For non-metallic minerals, a new fee linked to production volume has been introduced, set at 0.3%.
