Russian Copper Company and Ausmelt Limited have successfully launched a new copper-smelting plant that is based in Karabash, Chelyabinsk Region, and is going to employ Ausmelt technologies, reports the spokesperson for Russian Copper Company.

The plant is expected to process 550,000 tons of copper concentrate a year; its smelting furnace is capable of producing 90,000 tons of blister copper annually. This has become Ausmelt’s first project in Russia, with construction completed and the furnace launched in October 2006. The company’s experts left the site in December 2006, and the plant has been operating just fine ever since.

‘Such an incredibly fast launch was made possible owing to hard work and impressive cooperation of our expert teams. The plant has once again proved that Ausmelt technologies are very effective in terms of reaching one’s goals faster,’ says Paul Abbot, Ausmelt’s Managing Director.

The restoration of the copper-smelting industry in Karabash was started in 1995. The whole project was based on the use of Ausmelt know-hows. Since then, the town has obtained a safe metallurgical enterprise that is equipped with modern waste recycling facilities and filter plants (as well as an Ausmelt furnace). This is now one of the world’s most advanced and ‘greenest’ copper-smelting plants that has already received state awards twice (this happened in 2005 and 2006). The Russian Federation Ministry of Natural Resources granted Karabashmed the honorary title of Russia’s Leading Conservationist, and the company’s general director and chief engineer were awarded with Russia’s Environmental Shield orders for their achievements.

‘Karabashmed is a project unique to Russia and serves as the first instance of Austrian-Russian cooperation in this field. Our company is truly satisfied with the results of this joint project, so we would like to express our gratitude to both Austrian and local experts who contributed to the construction of the plant. I congratulate you all on the successful launch,’ says Dmitriy Saburov, Vice President of Russian Copper Company.