Enter Engineering and Uralmashzavod (subsidiary of UZTM-KARTEX group which is part of Gazprombank industrial group) in a consortium will build an ore beneficiation plant in Uzbekistan, the press service of the Russian company said.
On June 23, representatives of the two companies signed an agreement with Almalyk Mining and Processing Plant (OKMK), the largest producer of cathode copper in Uzbekistan.
An EPC contract for a copper-processing plant complex in Almalyk (Copper Processing Plant-3 (CPP)) on behalf of the consortium was signed by Alfonso Samonte Tengko, an authorized representative of Enter Engineering, and Jan Center, General Director of UZTM-KARTEX Group. On behalf of OKMK, the deal was signed by Bakhodirzhon Sidikov, director of Design office for the "Development of the Yoshlik-1 deposit project ".
The total contract price is estimated at US$ 2 billion, the project will be completed in 2023. As follows from the document, the factory at the Almalyk MMC will be built on a turnkey basis: Enter Engineering will carry out the design and construction of the facility, and Uralmashzavod will supply a full range of process equipment.
It is assumed that for MOF-3 with a capacity of 60 million tons per year, Uralmashzavod will manufacture more than 100 pieces of equipment, including large-volume mills, crushing and transfer units, medium cone crushers, press rolls, screens of various types and other equipment.
Now AGMK is developing the Yoshlik-1 deposits. With the commencement of ore mining from this deposit and its subsequent merger with the existing Kalmakyr open pit, this deposit will become one of the largest in the world, the report said.
Bakhodirjon Sidikov explained that the choice of the consortium was based on the lower offered cost, the completion timelines and the terms for drawing financing for the contract price. When evaluating the proposals, we also took into account the possibility of attracting local labor resources by the consortium, as well as localizing the production of spare parts and materials for the equipment used at the Central Repair and Mechanical Plant of AGMK.
The processing plant project is the first joint project of UZTM-KARTEX (union of Uralmashzavod and IZ-KARTEX) and Enter Engineering. In the future, the companies within the framework of the created association plan to launch other projects both in Central Asia and in Russia.
Who was originally supposed to build the plant
In May 2020, the President signed a decree that provides for the construction of an open pit at the Yoshlik-I deposit in the OKMK in 2020-2025, as well as a new copper-processing plant with an annual 60 million-ton ore processing capacity.
Then the document approved the proposal of the OKMK to attract the Russian Renaissance Heavy Industries (a subsidiary of the Turkish Rönesans Holding) for the CPP plant. Two contracts were to be entered into with the company - for the implementation of engineering work and design until the end of 2020, as well as for the supply of equipment on a turnkey basis.
In February, SFI Management Group unexpectedly announced the termination of the trust management agreements for Uzmetkombinat, OKMK and Uzikkilamchirangmet "given it achieved most of the tasks entrusted by the government of Uzbekistan." After that, SFI representatives Kabul Shodiev, Kakhramon Mullazhanov, Ulugbek Mukhamedov and others were expelled from the supervisory board.
In March, a new presidential decree was issued, which excluded Renaissance Heavy Industries, as well as SFI Management Group from the project.
