Zarafshan

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Zarafshan Zarafshon
Zarafshan Location in Uzbekistan
Coordinates: 41°36′29″N 64°13′35″E / 41.60806, 64.22639
Country	‎ Uzbekistan
Province	Navoiy Province

Zarafshan (Uzbek: Zarafshon) is a city of over 65,000 inhabitants in the center of Uzbekistan's Navoiy Province. Located in the Kyzylkum desert, it receives water from the Amudarya by a 220-km pipeline.^{[citation needed]}

Zarafshan is called "the gold capital of Uzbekistan". It is home of the Navoi Mining & Metallurgy Combinat's Central Mining Administration, charged with mining and processing gold from the nearby Muruntau open-pit mine. Between 1995 and 2006 the Muruntau gold mining and processing operation was run by the Zarafshan-Newmont Joint Venture, a foreign direct investment by Newmont Mining Corporation of Denver, Colorado (at the time the largest U.S. investor in Uzbekistan). As of 2007, full ownership reverted to Uzbekistan.

Zarafshan Airport ((IATA: AFS)) is served by Uzbekistan Airlines with direct daily flights to and from Tashkent.

Coordinates: 41°36′29″N64, 13°35′E″{{{8}}}