Uzbekistan Prepares to Launch Copper Processing Plant-3 at Almalyk GMK

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan is preparing to open Copper Processing Plant-3 (CPP-3) at the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex (Almalyk GMK) as part of the development of the “Yoshlyk I” deposit. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev announced this on September 24 during a meeting with scholarship recipients of the “El-Yurt Umidi” Foundation in New York.

The President noted that copper production in the country has grown significantly, from 72,000 tons at the start to 158,000 tons this year. CPP-3 is expected to produce an additional 150,000 tons of copper annually. “We are not stopping here; we also plan CPP-3, CPP-4, CPP-5, and CPP-6,” he emphasized.

CPP-3 will become one of the largest processing complexes in the post-Soviet space, with a designed capacity of 60 million tons of copper ore per year. The “Yoshlyk I” deposit has proven reserves of over 3 million tons of copper, as well as molybdenum and other by-products. Total investment in the development of the deposit and the construction of the plant is estimated at $5.3 billion.

The project will allow Almalyk GMK to nearly double its ore processing volumes and significantly increase the export of copper concentrate. The construction of CPP-3 will be carried out by Enter Engineering and the Russian company Uralmashzavod. Initially, Renaissance Heavy Industries under the control of SFI Management Group was to implement the project, but the company was removed from it in February 2021.

Previously, in October 2024, the President inaugurated the construction of CPP-4 at Almalyk GMK. In the future, copper production is planned to reach 500,000 tons per year. International estimates indicate that Almalyk’s total copper reserves amount to 45 million tons, and gold reserves exceed 5,000 tons, making the region one of the largest in the world in terms of these metals.