Tursynbek Asambaev
President, Yuzhpolymetal JSC
 Yuzhpolymetal close joint-stock holding company established on January 22, 1999 is an owner of the fixed capital and property complex of the former Chimkent lead mill and Achpolymetal integrated mill. The company has a great technological potential with respect to producing high-quality non-ferrous metals.
As a result of several modernization programs, the central lead mill became a major modern enterprise. Thanks to technological innovations it markedly increased the complex use of ore and secondary raw materials.
Yuzhpolymetal JSC incorporates mining enterprises, a concentrating mill, three metallurgical mills and other industrial and repair facilities.
Yuzhpolymetal’s raw material base is formed by the mines Ansai and Sredny Myrgalimsai, which are located in the vicinity of Kentau, a city in the South-Kazakhstan region. Polymetallic ores containing lead and barite are extracted there.
 Zinc-lead ores are being extracted at the new field Alaigyr in the Karaganda region. The operator of the field is ShymKar JV.
Yuzhpolymetal is using at its mines roentgenometric separation to extract ore particles with a higher content of metals.
Besides, Yuzhpolymetal is engaged in subsoil use at the new zinc-lead fields Talap, Rodnikovoye, Zhundy, Kanbasai and Karagashtykan.
There is a concentrating mill in the city of miners Kentau located 200 km from Shymkent. It produces 6 million tons of polymetal and barite ors a year. The mill uses a well-proven technology of metallurgic engineers from Shymkent to wash lead-containing dusts from impurities of chlorine, copper, antimony, arsenic. This innovation permits to ensure the most efficient use of technogenic or secondary raw materials in metallurgical production. The technology helps improve electric melting of dross and accumulated scrap. It also solves the problem of extracting bismuth and rhenium from dusts.
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New projects of Yuzhpolymetal:
– development of the ore base: the fields Talap, Alaigyr, Rodnikovoye, Kanbasai, Karagashtykan, Zhundy, Ansai and Myrgalimsai as well as the concentrating complex;
– production of optical light guides. There is everything that is needed to implement this project: availability of capital assets, the basic lead minium component of special purity, electric power and gas supply, growing needs of Kazakhstan’s communication enterprises;
– production of automobile batteries with an annual volume of 600,000 pieces;
– construction of two new mini-refineries of oil.
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The Shymkent lead mill is one of the region’s largest suppliers of refined lead, gold-silver alloy, minium, lead rolled stock, copper matte, metallic bismuth, rhenium in ammonium, antimony in antimonite.
This central lead mill successfully completed modernizing all production lines. They became less power-consuming and more efficient in sintering lead-containing dusts and cakes. The mill’s main shops can process all raw materials despite the presence of detrimental and hardly extractable impurities.
There is no single production section left at the mill, which was not modernized. For example, mattes are pelletized not by a water jet as before but by pouring matte melt through a wide runner into a water basin. This way processing of primary matte does not require crushing and comminuting. The need for ingot moulds was sharply reduced permitting to significantly cut production costs.
There is a unique effective technology of extracting and melting accumulated scrap that contains a lot of detrimental impurities. A newly assembled electric furnace has an economically advantageous processing system to produce copper matte from industrial products and waste supplied by copper smelteries. One more innovation at the gold and silver refining line permitted to significantly increase the output of precious metals. The technology of producing such high-quality reagents as sodium saltpeter and caustic soda was improved.
The Achisaisk metallurgical mill made it possible to enrich poor zinc-containing slag and transform it into Waelz-oxide of zinc. This metallurgical semi-product is now being supplied to the Shymkent zinc mill. In addition, the Achisaisk mill is producing lime, which is used as a stabilizer of sulfur gases, which are concentrating during enrichment of secondary raw materials, as well as a construction material.
The construction of a zinc mill is nearing completion. A capacity of its first phase will amount to 20,000 tons of metallic zinc a year. In addition to sulfide raw materials the mill’s shops will process zinc slag. For the first time the reactor Waelz process through mixing hot and cold slag is being introduced on a commercial scale. This will speed up fuming, improve the quality of Waelz-oxide of zinc and reduce costs. Pressure leaching will be widely used to produce metallic zinc.
Yuzhpolymetal has its own energy base. Its power-generating capacities include two thermoelectric plants. There are plans to acquire one more plant in the city of Kentau and reconstruct it. As a result of this deal, the energy potential of the company will increase so much that it will allow to guarantee complete supply of electric power, steam and water to all mining enterprises in Kentau, including the concentrating mill and Shymkent’s metallurgical, repair and assembly enterprises, other production facilities.
Yuzhpolymetal is a versatile company. Its structure also has mini-refineries of oil. Their total production volume amounts to 30,000 tons of oil products a year. Gasoline, fuel oil, diesel fuel are in demand among Kazakhstan’s consumers and are also used for the company’s own needs.
 Machine building is on the rise as well. In particular, the Kentau repair and mechanics plant is now engaged in renovating and making railroad switches, their components and spare parts. It commissioned production installations to manufacture rubber articles of different modifications used by a number of industrial enterprises in Kazakhstan.
The quality of railroad switches was found proper by the scientific research institute of railroad transport where they underwent testing. The plant’s production capacities permit to satisfy needs of railroads not only in Kazakhstan but in all of Central Asia as well.
The central mill is producing different polyethylene pipes for industrial and public utility purposes. They can also be used in the atomic power and oil industries.
The lead mill has a potential to produce high-quality minium. This product enjoys a heightened demand in foreign markets. Yuzhpolymetal is planning to arrange production of optical fiber cables based on minium and other components. It is not ruled out that either Russian or German firms will participate in the project.
The company is also manufacturing color varnish products and owns tailoring facilities. Yuzhpolymetal has its own railroad and automobile freight transport.
Besides, the company intends to develop activities in other business areas as provided for by its charter. They are legal and mediating services, advertising and publishing business, opening specialized, commercial and second-hand stores, retail public markets, drug stores, gasoline stations as well as international tourism and hotel business. 
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