President Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan highlighted opportunities to optimize the cost of constructing a new 4th copper concentration plant (CCP-4) at the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine (AMMC). During a review of the Digital Management Center’s activities on March 16, the head of state emphasized the need for efficient use of patents and knowledge to reduce the price of the CCP-4 project. He stated that while the plant’s construction initially cost $2.7 billion, based on analysis, these expenses could be cut to $2 billion or even $700 million, enhancing the project’s economic efficiency.
The President also set significant tasks for developing patent activity in the mining and metallurgy sector. He asked, “How many patents should we obtain in how many directions by 2026? How many patents have we already obtained in which directions? Which of these patents meet world standards, and which do not?”, underscoring the necessity to encourage innovation and patent technologies in this field. The head of state announced plans to obtain 10 patents in the industry, saying, “We will give everyone the same direction. We will open the road and create a ‘green light’,” aimed at establishing a unified policy and favorable conditions in the industrial sector.
Water supply was identified as a key challenge in the mining and metallurgy industry. The President noted, “The network has transport, it has water. Here, the biggest task is water. If there is no water, accessibility will be difficult, and we will incur high costs,” revealing the negative impact of infrastructure issues on industrial development. Concurrently, on March 16, the 3rd copper concentration plant (CCP-3) was launched at AMMC, which is expected to increase copper concentrate production from 2,400 tons to 5,000 tons per day once at full capacity.
The CCP-3 project, with its foundation laid on July 29, 2021, was estimated at a total cost of $4.6 billion (later rising to $5.3 billion), with the plant’s construction itself costing $2 billion (ultimately $2.7 billion). In the first phase, the plant is designed to process 60 million tons of ore annually, with planned yearly output of 917,000 tons of copper concentrate and 2,500 tons of molybdenum concentrate. The second phase envisions increasing capacity to 160 million tons, enabling the enterprise to achieve an annual production capacity of 400,000 tons of copper, 50 tons of gold, and 270 tons of silver by 2028. The construction involved Enter Engineering company and Russia’s Uralmashzavod enterprise, which initially planned to deliver the facility in 2023, with the state program indicating a deadline of August 2023.
Source: www.gazeta.uz