NEW FURNACE PUT INTO OPERATION AT ALAVERDI COPPER SMELTERY
Noyan Tapan
Feb 26 2007
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian Copper Program (ACP)
company produced about 8.8 thousand tons of black cooper and processed
48,224 tons of concentrate in 2006 against 9.9 thousand tons and
52,505 tons respectively in 2005. ACP director Gagik Arzumanian told NT
correspondent that this decline in production volumes is conditioned
by the use of old smelting furnace at the Alaverdi copper smeltery
last year. He said that a new furnce was put into operation recently,
which will ensure the previous volumes of production. According to
G. Arzumanian, the company does not yet envisage deeper processing of
cooper ore because it is not economically profitable. ACP director
said that the company is conducting a large-scale geological survey
at the Teghut copper and molybdenum mine. In his words, according to
data of the Soviet time, the Teghut mine has ore of about 450 mln tons,
in which copper content makes 1.6 mln tons, while molybdenum content –
99 thousand tons. The company director noted that the geological survey
work allows to assume that assessment of resources will not change.