British-Australian company launches exploration for copper in Uzbek region
By Aynur Jafarova
British-Australian Rio Tinto Mining & Exploration Ltd. has commenced geological exploration for copper in the Namangan region in Uzbekistan, in the Ferghana Valley.
The work began in accordance with a program on geological exploration developed jointly with the Uzbek State Committee for Geology and Mineral Resources and designed for 2013, Azerbaijan's Trend news agency reported on Wednesday.
In December 2012, the State Committee issued a license to Rio Tinto for geological survey of the Gava area in the Namangan region. The license was granted for five years. The company is expected to invest at least $1 million in the project.
Rio Tinto's general manager for exploration in Central Asia Chris Welton said earlier that in case of positive results, the company may invest up to $100 million in geological exploration of copper in Uzbekistan.
Gava Exploration LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto, was established to work in Uzbekistan as an operating company. Rio Tinto is also exploring the possibility of implementing other projects in the mining industry of Uzbekistan.
Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the United Kingdom. Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminum, copper, diamonds, thermal and metallurgical coal, uranium, gold, industrial minerals and iron ore. Activities span the world and are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America.
Uzbekistan has significant reserves of metals, in particular gold, copper, lead, zinc, silver, tungsten, uranium and molybdenum. The country has large minerals development potential, most of which is economically viable.
Currently, there are 900 discovered ore occurrences and deposits of copper in Uzbekistan. However, only three of them, concentrated in the Almalyk area, are being operated.
The Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Plant is the largest mining company in the country, producing over 90 percent of the gold and all of the uranium. The second largest mining company is the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Plant, which is the only producer of copper.