Uzbekistan, Tashkent, June 2 / Trend, D. Azizov /
German Outotek will start construction of a new shop producing sulfuric acid in the Uzbek Almalyk Mining And Metallurgical Combine (AMMC, Almalik city, Tashkent), a source at the plant told Trend on Thursday.
According to the source, the German company signed a contract with the AMMC to design and supply equipment on a turnkey basis for the construction of the new sulfuric acid shop at copper smelting plant with a capacity of 500,000 tons of sulfuric acid per year. The project is scheduled to be implemented by 2014.
The project worth $80.3 million will be funded through the Uzbek Reconstruction and Development Foundation's loan in the amount of $30 million, loans of Uzbek banks totaling $29 million and AMMC's own funds in the amount of $21.3 million.
The company 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. The enterprise yields produce valued at more than $300 million a year. The enterprise is specialized in production of refined copper (cathodes), metallic zinc, lead concentrate and other produces. The enterprise exports around 60 percent of its output, including 5 percent as export to CIS states.
The enterprise incorporates two ore mines, two dressing works and two metallurgic plants with their own infrastructure.
The enterprise is authorized to carry out extractive work at copper-molybdenum and lead-zinc mines in the area of town Almalyk (the Tashkent district). The raw material base of the AMSE comprises copper-porphyritic ore mines Kalmakyr and Sari-Cheku (the Tashkent district) and lead-zinc-barite ore mine Uch-Kulach (the Jizak district).
In late 2010, the Uzbek government has authorized Almalyk with the function of exploring for non-ferrous metals and associated minerals in the whole country, as well as additional exploration and operational intelligence about deposits of precious metals, with the formation of the Geology of Non-ferrous Metals Science and Production Center.
Almalyk MMC is exempt from customs duties for the import of equipment, technology and vehicles for exploration until Jan.1, 2017.