Udokan Copper processes first ore in mine pre-commissioning, preparing for launch

CHITA. June 1 (Interfax) - USM Holding's Udokan Copper has carried out pre-commissioning under load in the coarse crusher building and on all sections of the conveyor unit ahead of the upcoming launch of the first stage of the Udokan Mining and Metallurgical plant, the company's press service said.

"We're in the home straight leading to the commissioning of the Udokan Mining and Metallurgical Plant," the company's general director Alexei Yashchuk was quoted as saying.

The coarse crusher can reduce more than 2,000 tonnes of ore from the Zapadny open pit per hour to a 350 millimeter fraction. The ore will then go to the beneficiation plant through a conveyor unit consisting of three belts with total length of 2.8 km.

Earlier reports said the first stage of the Udokan mine would be launched at the end of Q3, 2023.

Udokan is Russia's biggest and one of the world's biggest undeveloped copper deposits. The first stage of the mining and metallurgical plant will have capacity of 15 million tonnes of ore and 135,000 tonnes of copper per year; its cost has been estimated at $2.9 billion.