Uzbekistan mining plant to invest $42 mln in two projects
By Aynur Jafarova
Uzbekistan's Almalyk mining and metallurgical plant will invest $42 million in the implementation of two projects in 2013.
One of the projects, worth $26.2 million, envisages the production of mining equipment by the end of 2013.
The other project, totaling $16 million, envisions the reconstruction of foundry engineering.
Capacity for the production of mining equipment, including mills, screens, pumps and hydro cyclones, will initially total 127 units per year.
The project is financed through loans from Uzbek banks in the amount of $15 million and Almalyk plant's equity of $11.2 million.
The plant plans to implement a number of investment projects which envisage increasing production of copper and precious metals.
As reported earlier this year, the Almalyk plant started building an underground mine with capacity of 200,000 tons of ore per year at the Samarchuk site of the existing Kyzyl Olma field.
The project worth $74 million will be funded through Almalyk plant's equity of $35 million, a loan from the Fund for Reconstruction and Development of Uzbekistan (FRDU) worth $14.2 million and loans from Uzbek banks for a total amount of $24.8 million. Construction work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2015.
In early March, the Uzbek government approved a feasibility study for the construction of an underground mine at Kayragach field in Tashkent region worth $30.56 million.
Implementation of the project will provide additional mining and processing of gold ore in the amount of 80,000 tons. The mine will be put into operation in November 2014.
The project will be financed through the Almalyk plant's own funds in the amount of $10.59 million, an FRDU credit worth $6.72 million and a loan of the Uzbek Ipotekabank in the amount of $13.25 million.
The Almalyk plant also plans to build new facilities and reconstruct the Angren gold processing plant by 2016.
The Almalyk Plant is the only copper producer in Uzbekistan and one of the largest manufacturers of non-ferrous metals in Central Asia. The plant accounts for nearly 90 percent of silver production and 20 percent of gold production in the country. The plant is composed of two mining companies, two processing plants and two metallurgical plants.
The plant has the rights to develop copper-molybdenum and lead-zinc ores in the area of Almalyk in Tashkent region. The Almalyk Plant's resource base includes copper-porphyry ores at the Kalmakyr and Sary Cheku fields in Tashkent region, the lead-zinc-barite ore deposit Uch-Kulach in Djizzak and the lead-zinc ore deposit Khandyza in Kashkadarya region. The share of the Almalyk plant in Uzbekistan in the production of silver and gold is 90 percent and 20 percent of the total volume respectively.
The total production of the plant is estimated at more than $300 million annually.