State Company Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Combine, Navoi, Uzbekistan:

K. S. Sanakulov, Chief Executive Officer, Doctor of Engineering Sciences, info@ngmk.uz

In spotlight of the article are the innovative activities at Uzbekistan’s largest governmental company — Navoi Mining and Metallurgy Company. The Company’s main products are gold, uranium, and other noble and rare earth metals. The Company also produces phosphates, common salt, mortar and molding sand, limestone, and manufacturers and exports metal-working machines. For the period of independence of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the company has ensured sustainable gold production. Large amount of work on construction and assembling during introduction of new gold ore extraction and concentration facilities in operation, and in technical upgrading and reequipment of the production has been accomplished. New technologies introduced have considerably enhanced performance of mining and hydrometallurgical processes. A key mineral project of the Company is Muruntau deposit. The deposit is under development by the world’s biggest open pit mine that is already 610 m deep; its ultimate depth will be 1170 m. The open pit mine operates heavy-duty electrical and hydraulic excavators with bucket capacity of 26 m³ and dump trucks with capacity of 220 t. The standard design crushing-and-conveying system for overburden haulage is modernized. It is added by newly built and commissioned high-angle conveying system for ore haulage, which greatly reduces transportation costs. The open pit mine has adopted automated control over operating equipment. Since 1994 the Company produces uranium using the method of underground leaching, there are 6 operating open pit uranium mines all in all. The studies aimed to improve techniques of removal of admixtures from pregnant solutions in order to intensify leaching are in process. Many innovations have been implemented in processing and metallurgical circuits of the Company, which is also described in the article.

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