Copper concentrate production started at Russia's largest undeveloped copper deposit following a ceremony overseen by President Vladimir Putin via video link.

The deposit is Russia’s largest with an estimated 26.7Mt of copper resources. The processing plant at Udokan will produce sulphide copper concentrate with 40-45% metal content. After first stage commissioning is complete, the plant will process 15Mtpy of ore with annual production of 150ktpy of copper in cathode and concentrate.  After a second stage, capacity would increase to 24-28Mtpy of ore and annual output of 450ktpy of copper products.

As reported by Reuters, Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov bought the right to develop Udokan for US$500M from the government just before the 2008 financial crisis. It took 10 years to solve the technical challenges of the project, create a new geological model and start construction.

The project enters production at a time of escalating geopolitical tensions and with critical materials front and centre of the friction. The project, in Russia’s far east, will target the Chinese market. Meanwhile, the USA imposed sanctions on its operator - Udokan Copper – earlier this year as part of sanctions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.