Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Oct. 22
By Demir Azizov- Trend:
Assets of the Uzbek plant of refractory and heat-resistant metals (UzKTZhM, Chirchik city of the Tashkent region), a monopoly producer of tungsten in the republic, will be fully transferred to the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine JSC.
The assets' transfer is provided by the decision of cabinet of ministers "On additional measures for the effective and rational use of state property".
The State Committee of Uzbekistan on Privatization, De-monopolization and Development of Competition jointly with the local executive authorities should arrange the transfer of state assets of the UzKTZhM to the statutory fund of the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine during two months, according to the document.
UzKTZhM, a monopoly producer of tungsten in the country with a processing capacity of 2,000 tons of tungsten concentrate a year, was commissioned in 1956. During the Soviet era the plant worked for the defense industry and produced hard alloys, powders and rolled metal of molybdenum and tungsten.
Currently, Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine provides raw material for production of molybdenum products and raw materials for tungsten products are imported from Russia.
In order to fully load the UzKTJM, Uzbek government approved a program in early 2006 to develop the country's tungsten deposits in 2007-2013, with a total production of tungsten concentrate reaching 2,700 tons. However, due to a number of financial and technical reasons, the country failed to start the implementation of the program.
Uzbekistan's State Committee on Geology and Mineral Resources and South Korean Shindong Resources signed documents in June 2013 to create Uzbekistan-Korea Tungsten joint venture for developing the Sautbay tungsten deposit in Navoi province.
The project worth $145 million envisages construction of a mining and processing complex with the capacity of 1,500 tons of highly enriched tungsten concentrate per year.
Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine is the only copper producer in Uzbekistan. It has the right to develop deposits of copper and molybdenum, lead and zinc ores in Almalyk. The company produces refined copper (cathodes), metallic zinc, lead concentrate and other products. It accounts for 90 percent of silver and 20 percent gold production in the country.
Edited by CN