One of the world’s largest gold mining companies, and the operator of the world’s largest producing single gold mine, Muruntau, Navoi Mining & Metallurgical Combinat (NMMC) has a significant ongoing investment program to modernise its operations as well as simultaneously make major production capacity increases. This is being done year on year across its mining and processing operations both in the Central mining administration which includes Muruntau but through development of new deposits.
Muruntau also has reserves estimated at more than 4,000 t. The current length of the main open pit is 4.3 km, with a width of 3.2 km and a depth of about 650 m. Currently, more than 42 Mt of ore is mined from the mine per year to produce over 2 Moz of gold per year, and in 2026 this figure is planned to be increased to 50 Mt. In the future, it is planned to mine gold to a depth of 1,000 m.
As an example, on August 23, before the 30th anniversary of the state independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan, NMMC held a ceremony for the commissioning of what it calls the “Northeast Cyclical Flow” technology complex within the framework of the investment project for ongoing development of the Muruntau mine – currently in Phase V, which involves an investment of $733.9 million. The cyclical flow project refers to an in-pit crushing and conveying (IPCC) installation. Gold-bearing ore is dumped into crushing stations, crushed and transported from the unloading point along conveyors, and as a result, transport costs are vastly reduced. NMMC largely engineered and constructed the IPCC technology in-house.
This year, NMMC has also implemented a number of projects for the construction of new railways, the reconstruction of existing lines, and the modernisation of freight and passenger transport. In 2021, within the framework of several investment projects, six modern two-section diesel locomotives of model 2TE25 KM, and 150 new dumper cars of various models plus a modern crane were purchased. The acquisition of modern diesel locomotives and carriages, the development of railway infrastructure, the construction and commissioning of new railways significantly expand the capabilities of the enterprise. Currently, 137,500 t/d of ore are transported by railway in NMMC’s system.
In terms of mineral processing expansion, also in August, the opening ceremony of Hydrometallurgical Plant-7 was held at the Central mining administration which will process 15 Mt/y of technogenic waste – ie gold bearing waste from previous processing operations. “The difference between the plant and other hydrometallurgical plants of NMMC is that, thanks to the technologies used here, it is possible to process and obtain products from processed ore. The production of products from technogenic waste at the enterprise fully complies with all environmental requirements. The most important thing is that only local chemical products are used in the processing process. This leads to an increase in the domestic market and a decrease in production costs.”
NMMC’s specialists have succeeded in building this plant, including four mills for processing ore in the first and second stages of the project, and most importantly, completing the project ahead of schedule. The main technological equipment used in the construction of the plant was not purchased abroad, but produced at NMMC, which saved about $56 million.
