The press conference on this topic was held on March 14 at the Agency for Information and Mass Communications. It was attended by Deputy Chief Engineer of the AMMC Abdukakhhor Sainazarov, Head of the Environmental Protection Department of the plant Davron Abdurakhmonov and representatives of the mass media of our country.

In a short time, a lot of work has been done to modernize the plant, increase its production potential, says D. Abdurakhmonov. According to the State Program, the modernization will continue until 2030 and will increase the plant's productivity by almost 1.5 times. The program also provides for measures to ensure the cleanliness of the environment.

Over the past three years, great work has been done to improve the efficiency of technologies and gas pipelines without stopping the current production process. In particular, the zinc plant passed a complete reconstruction and modernization. In order to reduce the negative impact on the atmosphere in the baking shop: electrostatic precipitators were completely repaired; installed additional equipment for air purification from dust; 2 billion UZS were allocated for the overhaul of aspiration systems; 6 new refrigeration units installed; the first stage gas purification filters were completely repaired. Work efficiency increased up to 96%; chemical protection work was carried out in the drying-absorption department.

At the copper smelter: a major overhaul of the electrostatic precipitator EGT 3-60, which cleans gases from dust, was carried out; the pipes of the Vanyukov furnace were completely cleaned; overhaul of the sulfuric acid shop SK-4 was carried out; 6 acid storage tanks were additionally built and put into operation.

At the lime plant, a complete modernization of dust collection equipment was carried out, an additional screen and an aspiration system were installed. As a result, the plant's atmospheric emissions fully comply with the environmental regulatory requirements of our country.

At the copper concentrating plant, at the crushing and grinding section, a transition was made from a dry method of air purification to a wet one. The efficiency of dust collecting equipment has increased from 75-80% to 90-95%.

At the Jizzakh cement plant, 1,800 dust filter bags were completely replaced, which led to the elimination of excess emissions. Reserve resources are also prepared for planned replacement.

At the Sherabad cement plant, 2,200 dust filter bags have been completely replaced. Reserves are also prepared for planned replacement.

In order to prevent the release of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, it is necessary to process the emitted gases and obtain sulfuric acid from them.

For this, two projects are envisaged. The first is the construction of a new sulfuric acid shop (SK-5) at the copper smelter with an annual processing capacity of 1.8 million tons of sulfur dioxide. The second is the construction of a new sulfuric acid plant at the zinc plant with an annual capacity of 180,000 tons. The construction of these workshops is scheduled for 2024-2025.

Along with the construction of two new sulfuric acid shops, it is planned to stop the operation of obsolete sulfuric acid shops (SK-1, SK-3).

Also, in order to reduce emissions into the atmosphere, it is planned to install umbrellas to delay fugitive emissions of dust and harmful gases generated in copper-smelting boiler houses and redirect gases for processing to the sulfuric acid shop. As a result of the implementation of these projects, a reduction in emissions of harmful gases into the atmosphere from 173.2 thousand tons to 13 thousand tons will be achieved.

The project has been developed for the complete reconstruction of the aspiration system of the foundry shop of the central repair and mechanical plant, and the equipment necessary for this is being purchased.

Currently, the project for the complete reconstruction of the aspiration system of the crushing shop of the copper processing plant is being implemented, the deadline for which is 2022-2023. As a result of the implementation of this project, the working conditions of workers will improve by reducing the amount of gas emissions.

Design work is underway to expand the copper smelting system as part of the investment project for the development of the Yoshlik I deposit. In this regard, foreign experience is being studied - technologies with less negative impact on the atmosphere. For example, the Flash Smelting copper smelting process and Flash Converting's Pierce-Smith horizontal converter furnaces are currently being studied. Our goal is to completely upgrade existing equipment and furnaces in 2022-2025, thereby minimizing dust and gas emissions into the atmosphere.

During the event, attention was also paid to the issues of man-made waste. In order to reduce waste, in 2021, 320 million tons of man-made waste containing lead were exported to the Republic of Kazakhstan for processing, 6 million tons of waste slag were processed. As a result, the area on which hazardous waste is stored has been reduced. In addition, research work continues to reduce and recycle man-made waste.

With the Uzbek-Japanese Youth Center and specialists of the Tashkent State Technical University, scientific work is underway to create a workshop for the processing of tires for large vehicles (BelAZ, load-haul-dumpers), which have become unusable during operation.

It should be noted that within the framework of promising projects, the construction of a new copper processing plant No. 3 with a processing capacity of 60 million tons of ore per year has begun. An important task is to reduce the negative impact of new facilities being built and the production process on the environment. To do this, it is necessary to apply the best modern technologies and efficiently use natural resources.

At the AMMC, great work is being done on the production of domestic machine tools, which are purchased abroad. This process is aimed at meeting the demand for technological equipment not only of the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine, but of the entire republic.

In 2021, 157 billion UZS were allocated to prevent water losses and upgrade pipelines at the plant. Currently, design work is underway to build a treatment plant for alkaline waters generated during mine operations. Also, special attention is paid to the issues of energy storage produced by renewable energy sources.

Currently, with the involvement of consulting services, work is underway to implement the ISO 14001 environmental management system at the AMMC to bring the production process in line with international standards.

“Studying the Chinese experience, we can see that in recent years they have paid great attention to environmental issues,” says Abdukakhhor Sainazarov. We have to choose the best option - we need to choose a technology that is cost-effective and can meet environmental requirements.

During the conference, journalists received detailed answers to their questions.

Information service of AMMC