Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Sept. 25 / Trend D. Azizov /
The Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combine has completed the second phase of building the hydrometallurgical plant four in the Zarmitan field (Samarkand region), a representative of the combine told Trend on Monday.
According to a source, the combine discovered new horizons at the Guzhumsay underground mine and brought the gravity extraction of fine gold into an active phase.
This allowed increasing ore processing at the complex by 40 percent - to 1.4 million tons per year
The construction operations worth $ 38.2 million were financed by the combine's own funds.
It was previously reported that the Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combine has gradually implementing the project since 2007 to develop the Zarmitan zone. The total project cost is approximately $ 330 million.
The project includes constructing a mining complex, including expanding a mine on the Zarmitan field, constructing mines in the Guzhumsay and Promejutochnoye fields, as well as a gold prospecting unit.
The project was financed by the complex's own funds.
In 2009, the combine carried out construction of the first phase of the complex worth $ 115 million.
In August 2010, the combine commissioned a gold recovery unit in Zarmitan and brought the processing capacity to 1 million tons.
It is planned to build the entire complex in three phases with a design capacity of 1.8 million tons per year in 2013 and to bring to full capacity till late 2015.
According to the preliminary data, gold extracted from the Zarmitan gold zone will hit about 10 tons.
According to the Uzbek State Committee on Geology and Mineral Resources, the Zarmitan and Guzhumsay deposits have 20 million tons of ore with an average grade of 10 grams per ton.
Navoi Mining is one of the major gold producers in Central Asia. The plant is fully owned by the state. The main gold-ore base of the enterprise is the Muruntau field (Central Kyzyl Kum). The plant includes two gold extracting plants - GMZ-2 in Zeravshan and GMZ-3 in Uchkuduk. NMMC is exclusive operator for the extraction, enrichment and export of uranium in Uzbekistan.