The final phase of one of the largest investment projects in Uzbekistan’s non-ferrous metallurgy — the copper concentrator plant-3 (CCP-3) project of the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Plant as part of the development of the Yoshlik I deposit — is now commencing. Construction and installation work is underway for the phased commissioning of the main production lines, the press service of the company said.

According to the deputy director for production Sherzod Masidikov, the construction and installation work is nearing completion. Key facilities — crushing complexes, a warehouse for coarse ore, flotation, thickening and filtration sections — are undergoing load tests. One of the two main conveyors, which is 4.2 km long, has already been commissioned, the second is at the final stage of installation.

The first copper concentrate reportedly received in March was sent for further processing, which practically means the transition of the project from the construction phase to the launch of the production cycle.

CCP-3 is the largest processing plant of its kind in Uzbekistan’s history. Its design capacity is 60 million tons of copper ore per year, which makes it one of the largest beneficiation complexes in the entire post-Soviet space. The production process is controlled from a central control center, key equipment was supplied by world technology leaders - Finnish Metso Outotec and German Thyssenkrupp.

One of the features of CCP-3 is the use of cyclic-flow technology for transporting ore from the deposit to the plant - the system includes two conveyors more than 8 km long with a difference in height, which significantly reduces costs compared to traditional delivery methods.

The Yoshlik I deposit is one of the largest in Uzbekistan, with proven reserves of more than 3 million tons of copper, as well as molybdenum and other associated elements. The total investment in the development of the deposit and the construction of production infrastructure is estimated at more than $ 5 billion. The development of the deposit and the launch of CCP-3 will allow AMMC to almost double the volume of ore processing and significantly increase the export of copper concentrate.