TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, February 2. Uzbekistan's Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine (AMMC) plans to increase copper production to 170,000 tons, head of the combine Abdulla Khursanov said, Trend reports.
On February 1, he spoke at a meeting where Uzbekistan's president, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, was briefed on efforts to boost the country's metallurgical industries.
The meeting was attended by the heads of Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Company, Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine, Uzbek Metallurgical Combine, and Navoiyuran State Enterprise, as well as Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov and Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Kuchkarov, among others.
The president directed that investment projects be accelerated, with the building of the copper processing plant beginning no later than July 1 and the engineering basic project completed by March 1.
The company plans to increase production capacity to 400,000 tons of copper by 2025 by increasing the level of metal separation. It is also planned to increase payments to the budget from 15 trillion to 19 trillion soums (from $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion) and production volume to over 39 trillion soums ($3.1 billion).
In 2023, Uzbekistan adopted the new country development strategy, which includes increasing the production of copper by 3.5 times by 2030.
As stated in the report by Uzbekistan’s Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine (MMC), the company produces about 148,000 tons of copper per year, with 90,000 tons being exported, which comprises 70 percent of the total production volume.