On March 25, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev got acquainted with the project for the extraction and processing of copper ore in cooperation with China in the Chust district, Namangan region.
According to the presentation, the cost of the project is estimated at $200 million, the capacity is 30 thousand tons of copper per year (for comparison: the largest producer of this metal in Uzbekistan, the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine, produced 148 thousand tons of copper last year). The project will be implemented by the Chinese China Mining Energy Group. It is expected that 420 jobs will be created and budget revenues worth 121 billion soums.
Geological exploration work is expected to begin in April.
Company spokeswoman Liu Fang Yuan said that China Mining Energy Group, founded in 2003, has assets worth $32 billion and 40 thousand employees, operates in 17 countries, and mines gold, copper and aluminum.
In October 2021, the former Ministry of Economic Development reported that Uzbekistan earns $2.5 billion from the sale of copper products, with about 60% of this metal exported as raw materials. Global demand is expected to grow by 40% by 2030 due to increased production of electric vehicles and electrical appliances. The Ministry recommended mastering the production of electric gas stations based on the AMMC copper cluster, as well as electric vehicles and electric buses.
