Armenia’s molybdenum industry is on the rebound , and the country’s largest producer is seeking a foreign partner to help finance and build a new processing plant.
Moly in the country is produced chiefly from the Kadzharan deposit in southern Armenia. The deposit, which also produces copper, contains 91% of Armenia’s moly reserves. The 40-year-old open-pit operation is operated by Zangezur and turned out 9.2 million tonnes per year throughout the 1980s.
However, production dropped drastically in the years following the collapse of the Soviet regime in 1991.
The Armenian government, however, invested US$10 million in the project in 1995 and 1996, and that cash infusion is expected to boost output in the coming years. Currently, the project is operating at only 60% of its total capacity. For 1997, the on-site plant is expected to produce 3,400 tonnes of moly concentrate and 5,000 tonnes of copper concentrate, well short of the 7,800 tonnes of moly concentrate and 6,100 tonnes of copper concentrate produced in 1990.
Molybdenum concentrate is currently processed in Russia and Uzbekistan, whereas the copper concentrate is processed elsewhere in Armenia. The company plans to build its own concentrate processing plant, and has begun negotiations with Genvol, a Swiss company, to that end. The proposed US$30-million plant would produce 8,000 tonnes of molybdenum trioxide and 7,000 tonnes of sodium sulphide per year.
The Armenian government will hold an as-yet-undetermined stake in the project, which is expected to produce net profits of US$15 million per year.
— With files from Interfax News Agency.
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