History

On July 19, 2004, the Russian Copper Company was officially registered in Yekaterinburg. At this stage, the RCC consolidated mining and metallurgical enterprises in Russia and Kazakhstan and created a vertically integrated structure with headquarters in Yekaterinburg. A mining and smelting holding was launched running a full production cycle – from ore mining, copper concentrate production and blister copper to the production of copper cathodes and wire rod.

The ORMET enterprise processing plant is reconstructed to increase its annual output to 800 thousand tons of ore. The Dzhusinskoye field starts being developed.

The Aleksandrinskaya Mining Company starts underground mining of the Aleksandrinskoye deposit in the Chelyabinsk region. In Kazakhstan design works are completed and the construction of the first enrichment plant of the Aktobe Copper Company begins.

The Novgorod steel works launches its copper rod production with the annual capacity of 75 thousand tons.

The RCC launches a sulfuric acid shop at the Karabashmed plant which is unique for Russia in that it uses the wet catalysis scheme for capturing sulfur dioxide, as well as a bag filter to fully purify the gas leaving the converter from dust. This leads to a major reduction in atmospheric emissions lowering them to the prescribed standards, thus securing further metallurgical production in Karabash.

The modernisation of the Kyshtym copper electrolytic plant allowes to increase its annual capacity from 80 thousand tons to 125 thousand tons of copper cathodes.

In the Sverdlovsk region, the Uralgidromed plant is launched to process the ores of the Gumeshevskoye deposit with the use of underground leaching leading to the production of cathode copper. To date, this is the only enterprise in Russia that uses this technology.

At the Karabashmed plant, a modern oxy-fuel melting unit with an Ausmelt submersible lance is installed, to replace shaft furnaces. The new technology makes it possible to automate smelting processes and increase the recovery of copper from raw materials.

The Novgorod steel works launches a TROF converter for efficient processing of scrap with low copper content.

The Aktobe Copper Company starts open pit copper mining at the 50 Let Oktyabrya deposit. The first processing plant with the annual capacity of 2.5 million tons of copper ore is put into operation.

At the Kyshtym electrolytic copper plant, a new copper rod shop is launched using the technology of continuous casting and rolling. The enterprise annual output grows from 10 thousand to 100 thousand tons of wire rod.

An enrichment factory for slags processing is launched at the Karabashmed plant. This allows the company to minimize the amount of production waste generated.

The Novgorod steel works copper electrolysis shop capacity increases to 75 thousand tons of cathodes annually.

The RCC expands its own mineral resource base: the ORMET enterprise begins developing the Yelenovskoye deposit, and the Copper Technology company begins developing the Priorskoye copper-zinc deposit.

The RCC continues expanding its own mineral resource base, increasing production volumes and processing its own copper concentrate. To this end, in Kazakhstan, the company constructs an open pit mine at the Priorskoye copper-zinc deposit, as well as a second ACC processing plant with the annual processing capacity of 2.5 million tons of ore.

The Karabashmed plant implements a recycling water supply system, which makes it possible to prevent industrial waste from getting into natural water bodies.

A production complex for a Kumera rotary refining furnace is launched at the Novgorod steel works. This equipment is designed for processing copper scrap and blister copper, in order to obtain refined anode copper. The units are equipped with remote control and automation systems.

In Kazakhstan, the construction of a second enrichment plant at the Aktobe Copper Company continues.

Industrial mining of copper-zinc ore starts at the Priorskoye deposit in Kazakhstan. To process it, a second enrichment plant is launched at the ACC with the annual capacity of 2.5 million tons of ore.

The Alexandrinkaya mining company is building an underground mine at the Chebachye deposit in the Chelyabinsk region.

The ORMET enterprise receives a license to develop the Vesenny site at the Vesenne-Aralchinskoye copper-pyrite deposit in the Dombarovsky district of the Orenburg region bordering Kazakhstan.

Stripping work begins at the Mikheyevsky copper ore deposit in the Chelyabinsk region. The second stage of the oxygen station is put into operation at Karabashmed.

The rapid growth and development of the company is backed up by various awards and inclusion in ratings. For the first time, the RCC is included in the TOP-50 largest non-public companies by Forbes. The RCC wins the Russian Mining Award in the Investor of the Year nomination.

The Mikheyevsky mining and processing plant construction begins. The Aleksandrinskaya Mining Company begins mining ore from an underground mine at the Chebachye deposit and reconstructing an enrichment plant leading to an increase of its enrichment capacity from 400 thousand to 800 thousand tons of ore annually.

A robotic complex for stripping cathodes is installed at the Novgorod steel works, resulting in an increase of production efficiency and improvement of working conditions.

The ORMET enterprise begins the construction of the underground part of the Dzhusinky mine.

The Karabashmed plant puts into operation a rotary kiln-mixer Kumera for separation of the matte-slag melt. This allows an increase of the degree of marketable metals extraction at the copper smelter.

The Mikheyevsky mining and processing plant produces its first batch of copper concentrate. The plant becomes the first enterprise in the post-Soviet space to introduce an efficient technology for the extraction and enrichment of ore with a copper content of only 0,4%.

A landmark event of the year is the signing of an intergovernmental agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan on the extraction of copper ore at the Vesenne-Aralchinskoye deposit located in the border area between the two states. Copper mining licenses on both the Kazakh and the Russian sides are owned by the RCC enterprises, i.e. ORMET and the Aktobe Copper Company.

The Aleksandrinskaya mining and ore company completes its processing plant modernisation.

A new sulfuric acid shop is launched at Karabashmed, which allows the enterprise to dispose of up to 99.9% of sulfur-containing gases arising from metallurgical production.

Public discussions are held following the assessment of the impact of the Tominsky mining and processing plant activities on the environment and project documentation for the plant to extract and process 28 million tons of ore annually. The state environmental review approves of the project documentation for the Tominsky mining and processing plant.

The RCC announces plans to use the tailings of the processing plant of the future Tomlinsky mining and processing plant for the production of filling material and the elimination of the spent mine workings of the Korkinsky coal mine, which is one of the most acute environmental problems in the Southern Urals.

The Karabashmed plant signs an agreement with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia, Rosprirodonadzor and the government of the Chelyabinsk region on the implementation of activities within the framework of the Year of Environment in Russia in 2017. Overall investment in the implementation of measures under the agreement amounted to about 2 billion roubles.

The underground mine Chebachye of the Aleksandrinskaya mining and ore company reaches its design production capacity of 800 thousand tons of ore annually.

The RCC starts construction of the Tomlinsky mining and processing plant in the Chelyabinsk region with the capacity of 28 million tons of ore annually. This is one of the largest, ultra-modern and high-tech projects in the Russian copper industry.

The Karabashmed enterprise upgrades its water recycling system and launches a new industrial wastewater treatment unit. The plant switches to a fully closed water circulation cycle.

Also, a mechanised copper bottling line is launched at Karabashmed. The new automatic equipment increases the productivity of the steel shop and helps to minimise downstream flue gas emissions through a powerful aspiration and cleaning system.

At the Kyshtym copper electrolytic plant the modernisation of copper electrolysis and copper rod production shops is complete, with its output rising to 140 thousand tons of cathodes and to 140 thousand tons of wire rod annually. The construction of a modern workshop for the production of copper electrolytic foil with the annual capacity of 1.2 thousand tons starts.

The construction of the third Linde oxygen station is complete at the Karabashmed plant. Two (out of three) Kumera converters are launched, which not only accelerates the production process, but also reduces the environmental impact of the enterprise due to a powerful gas cleaning system.

The Mikheyevsky mining and processing plant switches to a three-stage ore grinding scheme, which increases the extraction of copper into concentrate from 85 % to 90% and above.

The RCC acquires the Malmyzhskoye copper deposit in the Khabarovsk Territory. This becomes the next stage in the implementation of the RCC strategy aimed at expanding the mineral resource base and increasing copper production in response to the growing global demand for the metal.

The RCC marks its 15th anniversary. By 2004, the company’s ore processing capacity grows 20 times to 33.62 million tons of ore annually. Cathode copper output increases by over 80% — up to 220 thousand tons annually, copper rod output grows almost three times — up to 235 thousand tons annually.

The RCC starts mining ore at the Aralchinskoe deposit and Kazgeorud LLP begins mining at the Kundyzdy deposit. Zinc flotation grows at the RCC beneficiation plants.

At the Karabashmed plant, a large-scale modernization of the metallurgical shop converter section is completed, and the output of the sulfuric acid shop for disposing of metallurgical gases grows.

The mineral resource base continues to grow. The development operator of the Malmyzhskoye copper deposit, Amur Minerals, has acquired a license for the development of the Poniysky subsoil block in the Khabarovsk Territory.

At Karabashmed, a technical re-equipment of the chemical and metallurgical complex is underway, with a new area for smelting copper anodes whose annual capacity reaches 275 thousand tons.

The KMEZ copper foil electrolysis shop produces the first product samples of electrolytic copper foil for high-tech electronics and lithium-ion batteries. At the same time, the construction of a new electrolysis shop is gaining momentum at the enterprise, which will allow to increase its output to 230 thousand tons of cathodes annually.

Start-up and adjustment works begin at the Tomlinsky mining and processing plant.

In Yekaterinburg, a new building of the RCC headquarters is unveiled. It is the only facility in Russia designed by the world famous architectural firm Foster + Partners.

The construction of the Amur Minerals mining and processing plant at the Malmyzhskoye field enters an active phase. Leading financial institutions of the country, Sberbank and Gazprombank, joined the project and approved a syndicated loan of 195 billion roubles.

The Mikheyevsky mining and processing plant acquires a 100% stake in the authorised capital of the Invest Razvitiye processing plant, as a result of which the plant’s ore processing capacity increases by 50% to 27 million tons of ore annually.

KMEZ puts into operation an ultra-modern, unique for Russia, electrolytic copper foil workshop.

The RCC announces the implementation of the largest private project aiming to eliminate environmental damage accumulated during the Soviet era in Karabash. In its framework, it is planned to restore hundreds of hectars of land that experienced a negative impact in the 20th century from emissions and industrial waste from the outdated production of the former Karabash copper smelter.