Uzbekistan's New Copper Plant Passes 10m Tonnes of Ore

Uzbekistan's newest copper concentrator has processed 10 million tonnes of ore in under eight months, Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Complex (AGMK) reported, and the government has since raised its copper ambitions for the end of the decade. Copper Processing Plant-3 (MOF-3) treated the ore between 16 March and 4 November 2026 and sent more than 160,000 tonnes of copper concentrate to the smelter, UzDaily reported on 5 November, citing AGMK's information service. The report is now nine days old, but it gains weight from what followed.

On 9 November, during a visit to NURA Electric in Tashkent Region, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev set a target of 500,000 tonnes of copper a year by 2030, up from a previously planned 300,000 tonnes, according to Trend, which cited the official channel of presidential press secretary Sherzod Asadov. The third copper processing plant, commissioned this year, is expected to raise annual production to 300,000 tonnes, the same report said, without making clear whether that figure refers to the plant or to national output.

A ramp-up still in progress

MOF-3 is part of AGMK's Yoshlik-1 deposit project and was launched on 16 March 2026. Its design capacity is 60 million tonnes of ore a year, which at full load is expected to yield about 900,000 tonnes of copper concentrate annually, according to UzDaily. Ten of its twelve mills have been commissioned; the remaining two are in commissioning and testing.

Monthly throughput shows the curve. The plant processed 661,500 tonnes in March, 1,161,805 tonnes in June and more than 1.6 million tonnes in October. Annualised, the October rate is roughly 19 million tonnes, or about a third of design capacity, by CBJ's arithmetic. The reported yield so far, about 16 kilograms of concentrate per tonne of ore, is close to the 15 kilograms per tonne implied by the full-capacity guidance.

The figures describe concentrate, not refined copper. Neither report gives the metal grade of the concentrate, so the published numbers do not show how much copper metal MOF-3 has delivered, or how quickly it can close the gap to the national target.

Copper within a wider minerals push

The copper drive sits alongside a broader effort to build up critical minerals. On 5 November the president reviewed development plans for Navoiyuran and Uzbekistan Technological Metals Complex, according to his press service. The presentation said the production value of 16 key metals should exceed $2.7bn by 2030, that tungsten deep-processing projects involve $1.1bn of investment and should raise output value to nearly $2.2bn by 2030, and that the company plans to launch 12 investment projects by the end of this year. Copper is listed among 11 additional metals and minerals the complex intends to produce, alongside tungsten, molybdenum, selenium, tellurium and rhenium already in development, as Spot also reported.

The same review set uranium targets for Navoiyuran: 7,500 tonnes this year, rising to 15,000 tonnes by 2030.

Why it matters

For Uzbekistan, copper is the clearest test of whether large state-led mining investments convert into export earnings. A higher target raises the stakes on the ramp-up at MOF-3, on smelting capacity and on the power and water the plant needs. The official statements do not yet set out how the extra 200,000 tonnes a year between the old and new targets will be sourced, or which projects will supply it.

What to watch

Three markers will show whether the 2030 goal is realistic: the date the last two mills enter service, the first full year of MOF-3 output, and any disclosure of the concentrate grade or refined copper volumes from AGMK. Investors will also watch for named projects behind the 500,000 tonne target. For the wider economic context, see CBJ's report on Uzbekistan's draft 2027 budget.

Sources: Press Service of the President of Uzbekistan, 5 November 2026; UzDaily, 5 November 2026; Trend, 9 November 2026; Spot, 5 November 2026.

Image: Press Service of the President of Uzbekistan, via president.uz