On 30 March, testing was successfully completed on the main equipment – the electric motor of the gyratory crusher – in the coarse crusher building of the Udokan mining and smelting plant under construction.
The coarse crusher building provides for breaking down the ore coming from Zapadny pit, the first stage in the production chain that makes up the unique copper production process.
The high-performance gyratory crusher is capable of processing up to 4 thousand tonnes of copper ore per hour.
According to the Company’s CEO, Alexey Yaschuk, cold testing of the gyratory crusher itself will begin in the near future. He also noted that over 95% of the construction of the main buildings of the process plant – the concentrator and the hydrometallurgical plant – had been completed. The Company’s main efforts are focused on conducting commissioning of process equipment.
Notably, testing was carried out earlier on the metal separator and hydraulic hammer within the coarse crusher building at the Udokan mining and smelting plant, sulphide concentrate thickener No. 1, the SAG mill ore conveyor, conveyor feeders in the coarse crusher storage and equipment at a number of other production facilities. Commissioning has also begun in the boiler plant, which is at the final stage of construction, as is the railroad base (railway tracks and transport and warehouse complex) and intersite heating networks.
All of the Udokan mining and smelting plant’s energy infrastructure and water intake facilities have been built and put into operation.
Established in 2008 to develop the Udokan Copper Deposit, Udokan Copper is part of the diversified USM Group. Udokan is Russia’s largest undeveloped copper deposit with over 26 million tonnes of copper resources and a JORC copper grade of 1.05%.
