By the Decree of the President “On the Development Strategy of New Uzbekistan for 2022-2026”, the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex was entrusted with a number of tasks, including the further development of the research and production association for the production of rare metals and hard alloys for 2022-2024, as well as the development here new products.

One of the main tasks envisaged in this direction is to increase molybdenum production capacities from 800 tons to 1.200 tons in 2023. To this end, the copper smelter began expanding the workshop for the production of rare metals.

The existing furnaces were able to process 2.983 tons per year of molybdenum middlings (MM) with a molybdenum content of at least 36%. However, AMMC specialists calculated that, according to the development concept of JSC Almalyk MMC, with a capacity of up to 400 thousand tons of cathode copper and the construction of concentrating plants No. 3 and No. 4, the existing capacities of the WORM (workshop for obtaining rare metals) will eventually be insufficient to process the resulting MM.

According to preliminary calculations, taking into account the capacities of new enrichment plants, the total production of MM in 2031 will reach up to 7.840 tons per year.

Taking this fact into account, a phased expansion of the capacities of the WORM of copper melting plant for the processing of MM was proposed with an output in 2030 up to 7.840 tons per year.

The production and technical council of the AMMC decided to install additional furnaces - the fifth and sixth ones - in the shop.

As the head of the workshop Izzatulla Daniyarov said, now, in addition to the already operating 4 furnaces, 2 more furnaces are being built here. Their commissioning is scheduled for March this year. The new furnaces are characterized by the fact that they were manufactured at the plant itself, namely, at the central repair and mechanical plant. At the same time, their production capacity is 30% higher than the capacity of existing ones. The installation of equipment is carried out by the employees of the trust “Olmalimetallurgkurilish” of the AMMC. Management apparatus has developed a control automation system for two furnaces with process visualization.

Our workshop will process the semi-finished product obtained at the copper concentrating plant No. 3, which is still under construction within the framework of the investment project “Development of the “Yoshlik I” deposit”. In parallel with the installation of furnaces, a storage warehouse for semi-finished products is being built at the WORM.

The main product of the shop is the cinder of molybdenum and ammonium rhenium acid middling product (ammonium perrhenate). Due to the decrease in the content of molybdenum in the ore, it is expected that in the future the content of molybdenum in the middling product will be at least 25% and rhenium in ammonium perrhenate will be provided at the level of standard requirements, i.e. not less than 69.3%.

At the same time, the MM cinder will be sent for deep processing to the SPA for the production of rare metals and hard alloys, and most of the ammonium perrhenate will be exported.

It should be noted that all products of the workshop are in great demand. Thus, molybdenum is an obligatory component in the alloying of structural steel, the manufacture of technological equipment from molybdenum steel, and also as products from molybdenum-metal alloys and catalysts in the chemical industry.

Ammonium perrhenate is used for spraying turbine blades (gas turbines and aircraft engines), as catalysts in petrochemistry and other fire-resistant alloys.

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