During the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok on September 11, the equipment of the mineral processing plant of the Udokan Mining and Metallurgical Complex was put into operation for the first time. The company's products are mainly exported to China and supplied to enterprises related to China's green economy industry. At present, the company's first batch of copper concentrate has been offline.

As a modern mining and metallurgical enterprise that mines and processes Russia's largest copper mine in Transbaikal region, it was founded in 2019. The construction project is implemented as a project of the Transbaikal Advanced Development Zone. The combined enterprise's annual ore production is approximately 15 million tons and copper production is approximately 150,000 tons.

Udokan has mineral resource reserves of 26.7 million tons and is the largest copper deposit in Russia. The newly developed company has adopted a technology that can comprehensively extract copper from ores containing a mixture of sulfide minerals and oxidized minerals.

The first phase construction funds of the joint venture (construction period is 4 years) are jointly provided by the Russian State Development Corporation, Sberbank and Gazprom Bank.

Copper and copper concentrates are widely used in many industries. In particular, low-carbon industries and high-tech industries such as telecommunications, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems have a huge demand for "Udokan" products.

The construction work of the joint enterprise is carried out in harsh mountainous climate conditions. The main building of the technical complex is located at an altitude of about 1,600 meters. The winter temperature in the northern Transbaikal region is below 50 degrees Celsius. The construction area is located in the permafrost zone.

Development work on the Udokan mine began in August 2020. Two sites at the Zapadniy open-pit mine are currently under development. The two mines are located in mountainous areas about 2,000 meters above sea level. As of now, the total output is approximately 6.5 million tons, and the open-pit mine has entered the preparatory stage for commercial operation.

The Wuduokan mining and smelting plant will be put into operation in two main stages. In the first stage, the two production lines of the mineral processing plant - the grinding line and the mineral processing line - will be started, and then all the production lines of the hydrometallurgical plant will be started.

The concentrator is part of a technical complex that includes three processes: ore crushing, grinding, and concentration and flotation. Sulfide concentrate was born from this, and there is currently widespread demand for this product in both the Russian domestic market and foreign markets.

During the first phase of the project, the first grinding equipment process line and a complete set of collective sulfide flotation equipment will be launched. The second phase of the mining and metallurgy complex is planned to be launched in 2028. By then, its ore output will reach 24-28 million tons. The first and second phases of the project will ensure that its ore processing capacity reaches about 50 million tons and its copper output reaches about 450,000 tons. The mining and smelting complex will also rank among the top ten copper merchants in the world.

Source: China Economic Times--China Economic News Network