KHUJAND, November 4, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- After standing idle for several months, open joint-stock company (OJSC), Adrasman Ore Refinery, has shipped the first consignment of lead concentrate to client in Kazakhstan.   

The source at the ore refinery administration said that 400 tons of the lead concentrate was sent to Kazakhstan at the end of last week.  “By the end of this year, the enterprise is expected to have produced further 1,000 tons of the lead concentrate,” the source said.   

The ore refinery has produced the lead concentrate since April 2007.  Last year, more than 100,000 tons of ores were extracted and 6.97 million somoni worth of 1,885 tons of the concentrate was produced from them.  The enterprise stood idle from December 2007 through May this year.    

Established in 1967, the Adrasman ore refinery is engaged in mining and processing of lead ore for producing led-silver concentrate.  The plant’s rated capacity is more than 650,000 tons of ore a year.  The ore refinery was purchased by Kazakhstan’s KazInvest-Mineral in July 2006 for 11 million somoni.

Under an agreement concluded between KazInvest-Mineral, which assumed the 100 percent ownership interest in the or refinery, and Kazakh company North Time this year, 74 percent of shares in the ore refinery were transferred to North Time.