Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Oct. 22
By Demir Azizov- Trend:
The Uzbekistan-Korea Tungsten joint venture will start the construction of a tungsten mining and processing complex on the basis of the Sautbay field (Navoi region, the central part of Uzbekistan) in the second half 2016, one of the representatives of the Korean Shindong Resources Co., which is co-founder of the joint venture, said.
He made the remarks during the international conference "Investment potential of hard minerals of Uzbekistan" held in Tashkent.
The total preliminary cost of the tungsten mining and processing complex construction project is about $150 million.
In August 2011, the Korean Shindong Resources Co Ltd and Uzbek State Geology Committee signed an agreement on establishing a joint venture called Uzbekistan-Korea Tungsten to develop the Sautbay tungsten deposit. The joint venture, in which the share of the Uzbek State Geology Committee is 49 percent, and the share of Korean companies is 51 percent, was established in 2013.
The development of a bankable feasibility study for the start of financing the project will be completed before late 2015, according to the representative of the Shindong Resources. It is planned to obtain the production licenses and attract borrowed funds of commercial banks for the construction of the object in the first half of 2016 and to begin construction of the complex in the second half of 2016.
The design capacity of the tungsten mining and processing complex will reach 1,500 tons of highly enriched tungsten concentrate per year, according to preliminary calculations. It is planned that all manufactured products will be exported.
In summer 2015, Uz-Kor Tungsten conducted exploration drilling operations on the Sautbay field in order to clarify the classification categories during the evaluation of field resources according to international standards.
The explored reserves on the Sautbay deposit have hit 4 million tons of ore containing tungsten trioxide to the aggregate of 19,900 tons.
Edited by CN