Baku, Azerbaijan, March 27
By Fakhri Vakilov – Trend:
The Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex (AMMC) of Uzbekistan has started construction of a railway infrastructure for the development of the Yoshlik I field, Trend reports with reference to the press service of the enterprise.
The total cost of a project to develop a new field is about $1.7 billion. It will be developed in two stages: the production capacity of 23 million tons of ore per year is expected to reach 2029, and 35 million tons per year by 2035.
"Now the construction of the quarry’s railway infrastructure is underway. In January of this year, 250 meters of railway track were laid; another 350 meters were added to this in February. The total length of the route will be 2.4 kilometers. A large amount of work is ahead, as in some places it is necessary to lower the soil level by 7-9 meters so that loaded rolling stock can rise to the place of unloading,” deputy head of the Railway Workshop-1 Ulugbek Kasymov said.
Moreover, he stated that the reconstruction of Kalmakyr, Koltsevaya railway stations and the railway line between them will be carried out, during which all these objects will be equipped with modern devices of the electric axle counting system and microprocessor centralization. This will ensure the safety of trains and increase throughput.
As the Yoshlik I field is developed, new railway stations Novoporodnaya, Karyernaya, Yoshlik and Novy Dizezd will be built to serve it. They will also be equipped with modern equipment.
Thanks to this project, another plant will appear in the country with its own quarry and processing complex - a processing plant, a copper smelter with sulfuric acid and oxygen production. More than 35 million tons of ore per year will be mined and processed here, which will enable the AMMC to increase the production of copper and precious metals.
AMMC is the only copper producer in Uzbekistan. The company produces refined copper, zinc metal, molybdenum, lead concentrate and other products.
AMMC accounts for about 90 percent of silver production and 20 percent of gold in Uzbekistan. Since August 2018, the state share in the enterprise has been transferred into trust management of a foreign company SFI Management Group.
---
Follow author on Twitter:@vakilovfaxri