Abdulla Khursanov
CHAIRMAN OF JSC ALMALYK MMC
Industry & Mining I Interview I Uzbekistan 2026

_BIOGRAPHY Abdulla Khalmuradovich Khursanov serves as Chairman of the Management Board of JSC Almalyk MMC. He has led the Complex through its 75th-anniversary year and the inauguration of Copper Concentrating Plant No. 3, securing KfW IPEX-Bank financing and opening bond-placement discussions with the London Stock Exchange.
“INDUSTRIAL SCALE IS BUILT ON SOCIAL TRUST. OUR ROLE IN ALMALYK CITY — THE SCHOOLS, CLINICS, KINDERGARTENS AND HOUSING WE SUSTAIN — IS AS SERIOUS AS THE PRODUCTION TARGETS.”
WHAT DOES COPPER CONCENTRATING PLANT NO. 3 MEAN FOR UZBEKISTAN?
Copper Concentrating Plant No. 3 was inaugurated by President Mirziyoyev in March 2026. The 2.7-billion-dollar facility processes 60 million tonnes of ore each year and produces around 900,000 tonnes of copper concentrate, doubling daily output to 5,000 tonnes. Construction began in 2021 across 196 hectares and completed in four years. This is the largest single industrial project in Uzbekistan's mining history. For us, it confirms that the 2017 decision to develop Yoshlik-1 was correct.
Reserves at Yoshlik-1 amount to 5.7 billion tonnes of copper-molybdenum ores, including 18.9 million tonnes of copper and 250 thousand tonnes of molybdenum. Plant No. 3 is one of the most technologically advanced facilities in Central Asia, equipped with energy-efficient HPGRs, 300m³ flotation cells, Concord molybdenum separation units, and Larox vertical press filters, reducing operating costs and increasing metal recovery.
The project positions AMMC among the world's top three copper mining complexes, and Uzbekistan among the top 20 copper-producing countries, a goal the President outlined at the opening ceremony. Transportation is by conveyor throughout: pre-crushed ore from quarry to concentrator storage, concentrate to smelter, and waste rock to waste piles.
Production is fully automated, with all equipment indicators collected in the central control room. The plant will create 6,000 high-paying jobs in the Tashkent region.
HOW DO YOU MANAGE A 15 BILLION DOLLAR PORTFOLIO?
Discipline and sequencing. We are running Copper Concentrating Plant No. 4 in engineering, the 2.5-billion-dollar smelter under construction with KfW IPEX-Bank and AKA Bank, and the consolidation of Kalmakyr and Yoshlik into the future Oliy Ziyo Mine, while sustaining production of 148,500 tonnes of copper.
The portfolio is funded through a balanced architecture: own cash flows, syndicated loans from KfW IPEX-Bank totaling 2.55 billion dollars, one billion from the state development fund, and a planned one billion dollar Eurobond. We have moved progressively from state to market funding, starting with our first S&P credit rating in 2020.
We have automated 2,000 vehicles with GPS and fuel monitoring, installed more than 50 strain gauge conveyor scales, and reduced reagent consumption by 5 percent. We report under IFRS under Presidential Decree PP-4611. By 2030, we expect to deliver 400,000 tonnes of copper cathodes, 50 tonnes of gold and 270 tonnes of silver per year.
HOW IS AMMC POSITIONED FOR THE ENERGY TRANSITION?
Copper demand is projected to double by 2035, driven by electrification and renewables build-out across global grids. AMMC sits on 45 million tonnes of copper reserves at Kalmakyr and Yoshlik-1, with total ore resources of 19.5 billion tonnes. We rank first globally for gold resources in one deposit.
The timing of our expansion matches the structural shortfall the International Energy Agency projects for the early 2030s. We export 18 product categories to more than 20 countries, including Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Australia and Indonesia, and we are preparing to enter the London Metal Exchange for direct trading and hedging.
Our deposits also yield molybdenum, selenium, tellurium and rhenium, rare metals critical to semiconductors and high-temperature alloys used in defence systems. AMMC operates its own Innovation Center, providing scientific support across mineral concentration, metal recovery from waste, and improvements in purity. Work is underway with leading research organizations to identify sources of rare earth metals. In February 2026, we discussed a debut bond placement on the London Stock Exchange.
HOW DO YOU BALANCE SCALE WITH RESPONSIBILITY?
Between 5 and 8 percent of net profits are directed to ESG investment covering recycling, water management, pollution reduction and emissions monitoring. In February 2025, Sustainable Fitch awarded the Complex an ESG score of 56 points, the highest assigned to any Uzbek mining or metallurgical enterprise.
AMMC has been awarded The Copper Mark and The Molybdenum Mark, becoming the first enterprise in the CIS to earn these distinctions. We collaborate with Dresden Technical University and the Freiberg Mining Academy on low-carbon processing. By 2040, water requirements will reach 638.6 million cubic meters, with more than half covered by recycled water.
Energy demand will rise five-fold, so we are building 600 megawatts of new generation capacity, including solar fields and substations. We employ 35,000 people of more than 40 nationalities. Over the past five years, more than 4,500 apartments have been built for employees, and the renovated New Angren cultural and sports complex opened in spring 2025. Industrial scale is built on social trust.
Our role in Almalyk city, in the schools, clinics, kindergartens and housing we sustain, is as serious as the production targets.
