TALCO Gold, jointly owned by Tajik state aluminium firm TALCO and China's Tibet Huayu Mining Co, is developing the Konchoch deposits in the Western part of the mountainous ex-Soviet republic. It will also produce gold.
Commercial production of gold and antimony will begin next March, TALCO spokesman Igor Sattarov said.
TALCO Gold aims to eventually produce 10% of the global output of antimony, he said. That would give Tibet Huayu Mining a 27% share of the global market as it already produces elsewhere and the market is already dominated by Chinese miners.
The joint venture plans to produce 2.2 tonnes of gold a year, 15,000 tonnes of antimony and 6,000 tonnes of antimony oxide. Last year, Tajikistan produced 6.4 tonnes of gold.
(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Susan Fenton)