Uzbekistan, Tashkent, March 19 / Trend D. Azizov /
The Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine (AMMC, Almalik, Tashkent region) will initiate a project to renovate and expand the Sari-Cheku Mine worth $23.5 million in 2010.
Previous plans included launching the project no earlier than 2011.
The combine intends to modernize the railway overpass connecting the quarry to the concentrating plant, as well as purchase the necessary number of mining, transportation and construction equipment in the first half of 2010.
Equipment suppliers are Russia's Uralmash and Rudgormash.
The project will be financed owing to the combine's own funds and Uzbek bank loans.
The testing of the Sari-Cheku copper-molybdenum mine began in 1974. Its designed capacity is 4 million tons of ore per year. However, due to the gradual deterioration of equipment, the mine's production has recently decreased to 2 million tons.
Modernization will increase the mine's productivity by 2015 to 5 million tons of ore annually.
The combine has initiated a project worth $98.7 million to expand its main raw material base - the Kalmakir Mine in late 2009. After the completion of the project in late 2011, the mine's productivity will increase by 3.5 million tons of ore per year.
The combine is the only copper producer in Uzbekistan. It produces refined copper (cathode), metallic zinc, lead concentrate and other products. The share of the combine is about 90 percent of the solver production and 20 percent of gold in the country.