Baikal Mining Company belonging to billionaire Alisher Usmanov has started building a plant on the Udokan copper deposit and plans to launch the first $2.1-billion stage in 2022, the company said in a statement on September 5.
The annual capacity is planned at 12 million tons of ore and can rise later to 48 million tons. It will produce cathode copper and sulfide concentrate.
General Director Yuri Ryabov said the company started preparing the construction site and its infrastructure, getting ready to sign contracts with subcontractors and buy equipment.
All construction documentation was sent for state review.
The Udokan deposit is one of the world’s largest copper deposits located near the Baikal. The deposit’s mineral resources are estimated at 2.3 billion tons with an average copper content of 1.06%, and copper of 24.6 million tons under JORC. (Prime/Ukrainian metal)