15.10.2024

On October 15, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev got acquainted with the development of the Yoshlik-1 deposit in Almalyk and the third copper processing plant being built here.

Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Plant is a leader in the extraction of non-ferrous, rare and precious metals. It accounts for 5 percent of the country's gross industrial output and 6 percent of industrial exports. About 35 thousand people work in the plant system.

Last year, 148 thousand tons of copper, more than 17 tons of gold, 162 tons of silver were produced. Investments worth $1 billion and $100 million were utilized, products worth $662 million were exported.

In recent years, new production opportunities have opened up as a result of increased exploration and investment. One of them is the Yoshlik-1 field. In accordance with the decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated March 1, 2017, a promising investment project is being implemented here.

The area of the field is 11 thousand hectares. Its reserves are also significant - 65 million tons of ore per year. This deposit contains 13 types of valuable and rare metals, such as gold, copper, silver, molybdenum, selenium.

The head of state visited the deposit, familiarized himself with the mining operations and talked to specialists.

The third copper processing plant of Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine is being constructed to produce high value products from ores of Yoshlik-1 deposit. The foundation was laid on July 29, 2021.

The cost of this major project is $4,6 billion, including the development of the deposit, construction of the plant and its infrastructure. At present, 200 million cubic meters of the deposit's surface has been stripped, 41 kilometers of railway tracks have been laid, and a 650 megawatt substation has been installed. Equipment has been delivered from the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Turkey, China, Russia and other European countries. Construction of the factory and other infrastructure is proceeding at an accelerated pace.

The President reviewed in detail the large-scale construction work being carried out here. Information was provided about the economic efficiency of the future factory, the advanced technologies used in it, and the convenience of the work process.

At the first stage the plant will be able to process 60 million tons of ore per year. Due to this, 917 thousand tons of copper and 2.5 thousand tons of molybdenum concentrates will be produced annually. Employment will be provided for 5,600 people.

This major project also gave an impetus to the development of related industries. For example, 6 plants have been put into operation to supply metal structures for the construction of the factory. Engineering, IT and vocational education are reaching a new level. There is a demand for new housing and services.

The factory will also simplify the logistics process. There are conveyors between all the buildings in the plant. This will eliminate the need for manual loading and transportation of ore and reduce costs.

In the second phase, the capacity will reach 160 million tons, or 3 times the initial figure. As a result of implementation of these two stages, by 2028 the enterprise will have the capacity to produce 400 thousand tons of copper, 50 tons of gold and 270 tons of silver per year. Thus, the Almalyk Plant will become one of the world's largest industrial complexes in the mining and metallurgical sector.

According to international estimates, gross reserves of copper in Almalyk amount to 45 million tons, and gold - more than 5 thousand tons. This is one of the largest indicators in the world.

Another important aspect is the fact that today the “green economy”, electrical engineering and electric vehicle construction are dynamically developing in the world. As a result, the demand for copper products is expected to increase by 40 percent by 2030.

This means that the products of Almalyk Combine will be in demand in the international market for many years. In the future, the volume of products manufactured by the combine will increase more than 3 times, their value will reach almost $8 billion. 11 thousand new high-tech jobs will be created.