Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Almalyk Mining and Metallurgy Combine (AGMK) began construction of a railway infrastructure for the development of the Yoshlik I field, the press service of the enterprise said.

The total cost of a project to develop a new field is about US$1.7 billion. It will be developed in two stages: the production capacity of 23 million tonnes of ore per year is expected to reach in 2029, and 35 million tonnes per year by 2035. 

"Now the construction of the quarry’s railway infrastructure is underway. In January 2019, 250 meters of the railway track were laid, in February, another 350 meters were added to this. The total length of the route will be 2.4 kilometers. A large amount of work is expected, because in some places to lower the soil level by 7-9 meters so that loaded rolling stock could rise to the place of unloading," the deputy head of the railway center-1 (railway workshop) Ulugbek Kasymov said.

Also, according to him, the reconstruction of Kalmakyr, Koltsevaya railway stations and the railway line between them will be carried out, during which all these objects will be equipped with modern devices of the electric axle counting system and microprocessor centralization. This will ensure the safety of trains and increase throughput.

As the Yoshlik I field is developed, new railway stations will be built to serve it — Novoporodnaya, Karyernaya, Yoshlik and Novy Dizezd. They will also be equipped with modern equipment. For example, by the third quarter of this year, the collective of the Yoshlik mine of the Kalmakyr mine department plans to prepare the route for the construction of the Novoporodnaya station.

"Among other things, the Yoshlik I quarry will be equipped with new modern railway equipment. Five locomotives of the TEM18DM series, 116 dumpcars 2BC-105 (dump trucks), four hopper-dispensers (dump trucks for crushed stone), a PRM-5U  sleeper changing machine and others have already been acquired. In the near future, the arrival of traction units, a railway crane with a lifting capacity of 80 tonnes, an auto-locomotive for repair of the contact network, etc. is expected. Most of the new railway equipment is planned to be purchased this year, "the source said.

Thanks to this project, another plant will appear in the country with its own quarry and processing complex at the processing plant, copper smelter with sulfuric acid and oxygen production. More than 35 million tonnes of ore per year will be mined and processed here, which will enable the AGMK to increase the production of copper and precious metals. There will also be provided a rhythmic and stable activity of the divisions of the plant.

Recall that the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine is the only copper producer in Uzbekistan. The company produces refined copper, zinc metal, molybdenum, lead concentrate and other products.

AGMK accounts for about 90% of silver production and 20% of gold in the republic. Since August 2018, the state share in the enterprise has been transferred into trust management of a foreign company SFI Management Group.