Two new factories in Kazakhstan will process 10.5 million tons of ore

Kazakhstan is increasing its copper enrichment capacity.

Technologies have been developed for the Besshoky and Kyzyltu deposits, which together are designed to process 10.5 million tons of ore and produce about 190 thousand tons of copper concentrate per year, DKNews.kz reports.

Technological solutions were prepared by specialists from the branch of the RSE “National Center on Complex Processing of Mineral Raw Materials of the Republic of Kazakhstan” - “Eastern Research Mining and Metallurgical Institute of Non-Ferrous Metals”. The developed regulations are intended for the design of new enrichment plants.

Besshocky will give three-quarters of the new copper concentrate

The largest of the two sites is planned for the Besshoky field. The design capacity of the enterprise will be 7.5 million tons of ore per year.

After flotation enrichment, they expect to receive about 142 thousand tons of copper concentrate annually. The copper content in it should reach 25%.

This is almost three quarters of the total volume of concentrate provided by the technologies for the two new enterprises.

VNIITsvetmet specialists have developed a technology for flotation enrichment of porphyry copper ores for Besshoka. The resulting solutions are already included in the technological regulations for the design of the factory.

Kyzylta will process 3 million tons of ore annually

The second technology is intended for copper-molybdenum ores of the Kyzyltu deposit.

The project regulations provide for the processing of 3 million tons of ore per year and the production of about 48 thousand tons of copper concentrate.

The copper content in the concentrate is expected to be 21%.

The regulations have already been developed and submitted for use in enterprise design.

In total, the two sites should ensure the processing of 10.5 million tons of raw materials annually. With the stated parameters, their total production will be about 190 thousand tons of copper concentrate.

Technologies are being adjusted for existing factories

The Institute's work is not limited to new projects. This year, experts are adjusting the technological regulations of the Bozshakol and Karchiga enrichment plants.

The researchers take into account differences in the mineral composition of the ores being processed and actual production conditions.

In the laboratory, specialists change the fineness of raw material grinding and select flotation modes to determine the parameters at which copper extraction can be increased.

“Using laboratory flotation machines, specialists study the effect of ore grinding fineness, select and develop optimal flotation modes. The results obtained will allow increasing copper extraction and will be used to improve the operation of these concentration plants,” noted Larisa Kushakova, deputy director for applied research and testing of the branch of the RSE “NC CPMRM RK” VNIITsvetmet.

For the industry, this work has practical significance: the technological regulations set the parameters on the basis of which the production scheme for beneficiation of a specific ore is designed. The differences between Besshoky and Kyzyltu are already visible in the calculated figures - 25% copper in concentrate at one deposit versus 21% at the other.

Previously, we wrote about the development of the copper industry in Kazakhstan and the project of a new copper smelter, the raw material for which should be copper concentrate from Kazakhstan mining and processing enterprises.

Source: dknews.kz