Industrial gold mining started in the Kyrgyz Republic in 1986 at the Makmal deposit. In 1996 the development of the Kumtor gold deposit, the largest in Kyrgyzstan, began. In 2016 the project produced 551,000 ounces of gold and contributed 8% of the Kyrgyz Republic's GDP and had a share of 23.4% in the Republic's aggregate industrial output.