Non-ferrous metallurgy and machine building

Non-ferrous metallurgy combines mining of non-ferrous ores, enrichment, smelting and making alloys. Non-ferrous metals fall into heavy (copper, lead, zinc, tin, nickel), light (aluminium, magnesium, titanium), precious (gold, silver, platinum), refractory (tungsten, molybdenum) and rare (uranium, germanium) groups. They are essential for electrical engineering, machine building, aircraft building, electronics and chemicals. Uzbekistan has large reserves of gold, copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, molybdenum, silver and other ores. The most important centre is the Angren–Almalyk mining district: the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine produces copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver; besides copper, the by-product metals molybdenum, gold and silver are also extracted from the ore. The Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combine produces gold on the basis of the Muruntau deposit in the Kyzylkum, one of the world’s largest open-pit gold mines. The refractory alloys plant at Chirchiq makes tungsten and molybdenum products. Aluminium raw material, kaolin clay, exists in the Ohangaron basin, but making aluminium needs a great deal of electricity. Non-ferrous metals are also used as alloys: bronze (copper and tin), brass (copper and zinc). Gold now holds an important place in the country’s exports.