Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev got acquainted with the construction of the 3rd copper-processing plant of the Almalyk mining and metallurgical plant.

The construction of the structure began with the laying of its first stone on 29 July 2021. At present, the construction of the foundation for the factory with an area of 107 hectares is underway.

The cost of the project is US$2 billion, of which US$861 million has been spent to date. The Italian company Wood is involved in the design, and the British Technip Energies is involved in the technical assessment and acceptance of the project.

The building of the directorate and the town of builders have been commissioned, and the construction of one more town is under way.

It is noteworthy that in order to reduce construction costs, a metalwork plant is being erected next to the factory.

The new factory will include ore warehouses, grinding, crushing and flotation buildings, a hydrometallurgical workshop, repair shops, a waste handling workshop and other facilities. Work processes will be carried out using advanced equipment aimed at minimizing the human factor, improving product quality and ensuring labor safety.

The head of state made recommendations on accelerating the construction of the factory and putting it into operation by the end of 2023.

At the meeting held in the town, plans for the development of the Almalyk mining and metallurgical plant until 2030 were discussed.

The calculation carried out according to the JORC code showed that the copper resources of the plant are estimated at 45 million tons, gold reserves - at more than 5 thousand tons. Based on these indicators, a concept has been developed to bring copper production to 515 thousand tons by 2030, gold - up to 52 tons, silver - up to 343 tons. Due to this, it is planned to increase the annual production of the plant to US$8 billion.

At the meeting, it was emphasized that as part of the transformation of the plant, it is first of all necessary to digitize management processes, production and logistics, and to increase operational efficiency.

“The most important task is to introduce in the next two years a modern management system at the plant, turning it into one of the world leaders in metallurgy, a company capable of operating without government support,” the President said.

The head of state stressed the importance of starting work on the design of the fourth copper-processing plant in parallel with the construction of the third. As a result, the ore processing capacity can reach 160 million tons, increasing by 3 times.

The meeting also discussed the creation of a copper cluster.

To date, 22 projects worth US$76 million have been formed for the processing of copper and the production of high added value products.

Also, during the state visit of the President to South Korea, an agreement was reached on the creation of a cluster of semiconductors and electronics in the Tashkent region.

The head of state instructed to intensify work in this direction, gave instructions on the production of products in demand in electrical engineering, energy, and the automotive industry.

There was also a meeting with the chairmen of makhallas, khokim assistants and youth leaders.

- We will definitely bring the plant to a high level. But people’s satisfaction with life is above all. There should be warmth and comfort, clean water, uninterrupted power supply in houses, decently paid work. And for this, it is you who must tell what problems there are in the makhalla, what needs to be done to solve them, what conditions to create. Therefore, it will be useful for us to talk openly, - said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

The khokim’s assistants spoke about their plans to reduce unemployment, develop entrepreneurship and household plots in the territory entrusted to them, as well as involve young people in sports. The head of state expressed confidence that the assistants would successfully cope with the tasks assigned to them, and supported their proposals.