March 19, 2015 - In June 2015, a new sulfuric acid production facility of Karabashmed, CJSC (a member of Russian Copper Company Group), will be put into production. Currently, rail tank car washing station, transformer substation and 6 kV switchgear are commissioned. There will be 137 employees working at the new production facility.  The construction progress has been assessed by the Chelyabinsk Region Governor Boris Dubrovsky.  The Press Service of RCC has informed RusBusinessNews that the construction of this new production facility is designed with almost full utilization (99.9%) of sour gases from metallurgical production and decommissioning of the old sulfuric acid manufacture. With the new production, the output of blister copper is expected to reach 120 thousand tons per year, and the sulfuric acid output, up to 640 thousand tons.  As the production develops, Karabashmed increases its investments in Karabash region social projects. The investment amounted to 23 million rubles in 2013, and 29 million rubles in 2014.

December 27, 2011 - The final version of the basic design for the construction of the new sulfuric-acid facility at Karabashmed, CJSC (a subsidiary of Russian Copper Company) has been approved at the very end of 2011. The design was developed by the Chinese company Simm Co. Ltd.  Karabashmed, CJSC's project to modernize its production of sulfuric acid is an important part of the company's plan to upgrade its technical equipment. Once the new facility is operating, it will be able to treat 230 thousand cubic meters per hour of gas emissions from metallurgical production, thus ensuring full disposal of the sulfur dioxide.  Mikhail Borisov, the deputy director of metallurgy at Russian Copper Company, CJSC, told RusBusinessNews that 2011 and 2012 mark the start of some major transformations within the company. A program to build and modernize the company's metallurgy, energy, and chemical facilities is scheduled for 2011 to 2016. A total of about 7.8 billion rubles has been invested in the modernization of Karabashmed, CSJC since 2004, when the firm was incorporated into Russian Copper Company.  In 2011, 767.2 million rubles was invested in construction and installation work at Karabashmed, CSJC, including 230 million rubles to build the new sulfuric-acid facility. There are plans to spend between three and four billion rubles on this work next year.

August 8, 2011 - In December 2013, Karabashmed, CJSC, is going to launch its new sulfuric acid treatment shop. The Russian Copper Company intends to invest 4.5 billion rubles in its construction.   The new facility will make it possible to achieve complete utilization of sulfurous anhydride. The first facility, which provided recovery of sulfurous anhydride for the further production of sulfuric acid, using the "wet catalysis" technology, and was equipped by the Haldor Topsoe Company, was put into operation at Karabashmed in 2005.  In addition to the construction of the sulfuric acid treatment shop, the first stage of the smelter renovation started in 2010 includes installation of the rotary sump furnace and new Kumera converters, construction of the second oxygen plant, assembly of units for gas treatment of converter waste gases and a gas cooler for the Ausmelt furnace.  The Press Service of the Russian Copper Company has informed "RusBusinessNews" that the upgrading will increase the output of Karabashmed to 120 thousand tons of blister copper and 650 thousand tons of sulfuric acid a year.

Russian Copper Company (RCC) and Ausmelt Limited today announced the successful completion of the commissioning for the new Ausmelt Technology Copper Smelter located at the Karabash Plant in the Chelyabinsk Region of the Russian Federation. The plant is designed to treat 480,000 tonnes a year of copper concentrates. It is Ausmelt's first project in Russia.   Construction was completed and the furnace was heated up for the first time in October 2006. The plant achieved its design targets for concentrate feed and matte quality within the commissioning period. Ausmelt's metallurgical engineers left the site in December 2006 and the plant continues to operate successfully. Ausmelt Managing Director, Mr Paul Abbott said today that the very quick ramp up of this plant is a tribute to the hard work and strong co-operation between the technical teams involved. Our congratulations go to all the hard working people at RCC and Karabash. He added that this plant has again demonstrated the capability of Ausmelt technology to achieve design targets within much shorter time frames than competitive technologies.  Activity on the modernisation of the Karabash smelter, Chelyabinsk Region, started in 1998. The main production process is Ausmelt Technology. Karabash now has a hi-tech and environmentally safe metallurgical plant which, apart from the Ausmelt furnace, also includes a modern waste treatment, sulphuric acid and effluent treatment plants. The Karabash plant is now one of the most modern plants of its type in Russia and the complex is among the most up-to-date and environmentally safe copper smelters globally.  The Ausmelt-Karabash smelter has won two significant government awards: in 2005 the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation awarded ZAO Karabashmed the honorary title of "Leader of Environment Protection Activity in Russia", and in 2006 the plant General Director and the Chief Engineer were awarded "the Ecological Shield of Russia" for the achievements in environment preservation.