There was a time when the mocking words "The mighty USSR collapsed. How will Uzbeks mine gold now?" would ring in our ears. It hurt our hearts, it would also hurt our heads, we worried of the future of our children...

Thankfully, Independence – plenty of losses, no matter how difficult and trying it was, it allowed the name Uzbekistan to sound gloriously on the world stage.

No matter how much the turmoil in the world today, the cries of dying babies, and the anguish of mothers crush my heart, as a mother, I am grateful for the peace and tranquility in my country. I pray for the wars in those countries to end as soon as possible.

I remember, almost five years ago, on 29 July 2021, the head of our country, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, launched the construction of the Copper Processing Plant-3. At that time, there were those who did not believe in the construction of the factory, there were those who doubted it...

Yesterday, the head of our state visited Almalyk. During the visit, the opening ceremony of the Copper Processing Plant-3 was held.

Independent Uzbekistan completed the first stage of the huge factory in almost five years. After all, history testifies that the Copper Processing Plant of the Complex, built by the All-Union builders under the name of the "striking construction" of the former Soviet Union, was also built in stages, some workshops were even rebuilt, and was fully completed in more than 30 years.

During geological exploration, it was revealed that the "Yoshlik-I" and "Kalmoqkir" mines have reserves of 45 million tons of copper, more than 5 thousand tons of gold, and have guaranteed raw materials for another 100 years.

According to reports, when this new factory is fully operational, the daily volume of copper concentrate at the Complex will increase from current 2,400 tons to 5,000 tons. At the same time, more than 6,000 young people will have jobs. In addition, efforts have been launched to build a new copper smelting plant at the Comple[. It is said that when these two enterprises start operating at full capacity, the annual volume of copper cathode production will reach 300,000 tons, gold - 33 tons, silver - 203 tons, and molybdenum - 1,700 tons.

There is still much good work ahead. It was noted that the works are underway to build the Copper Processing Plant-4, which will serve to increase these indicators by another 1.5 times.

As reported, the amount of steel structures used in the construction of the Copper Processing Plant-3 could be enough to build 10 Eiffel Towers, and the amount of reinforced concrete used could be enough to build about 2.5 Burj Khalifas. So, the newly opened factory is a giant megaproject of our century, of our New Uzbekistan – truly the eighth wonder of the world!

I was even more proud of the fact that the Copper Processing Plant-3 is one of the largest copper-molybdenum concentrators in the world – in the same row with such complexes as Cerro Verde in Peru (131 million t/year), Escondida (91-128 million t/year), Los Pelambres (64-69 million t/year), Collahuasi (62-77 million t/year) in Chile and Toromocho in Peru (62 million t/year).

So, our future prospects are great. As a mother and grandmother, I am worrying for the future of my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. May the peace in our homeland, the peace of mothers, the tranquility of fathers, the bright future of young men and women, and the beautiful smiles of our little ones be protected!

The visit was widely covered in the press and mass media, and in social networks. Yesterday I watched the opening of the factory on TV. The grateful look to the head of our state from the workers and builders of the combine caught my attention.

Shavkat Miromonovich Mirziyoyev said, "Whoever creates a high value chain in the copper industry will build the industry of the future." Yes, that's what the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex has achieved.

The head of our state believed in the Complex before starting this huge project. The trust of the President is the trust of the people. In fact, thanks to the sleepless nights and restless days of the leadership of the combine and its hard-working, dedicated team, the trust of the President and the people was justified.

This is a new mine, a new factory and a real victory of the New Uzbekistan combine.

Congratulations on this victory to our people and AMMC!

Oysara TOSHPO‘LAT qizi,

veteran of labor