DUSHANBE, May 7, Asia-Plus  -- Construction of two plants – on producing cryolite and aluminum fluoride – in the Yovon district will come to $30 million, press released issued by Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO) today said. 

We will recall that construction of these plants is one of components of the project aimed at shifting Tajik aluminum smelter to the use of domestic raw materials.  

According to TALCO, the project will be funded due to attraction of foreign and domestic private investments, without use of state funds.    

Project provides for processing of nepheline syenite from the Turpi and Tutek-Devona-sou deposits in the Jirgatol district, some 300 kilometers northeast of Dushanbe.    

According to local geologists, the mentioned deposits have the possible nepheline syenite reserves of totaling 12-14 billion tons.  Nepheline syenite is necessary for producing alumina, which is the main component of bauxite, the principle ore of aluminum, and therefore, “TALCO may be provided with raw materials for hundred years,” press release said.     

TALCO currently imports cryolite and aluminum fluoride, which are among the main raw materials for producing aluminum, from Baltic countries, Russia and China.   The Tajik aluminum smelter’s annual requirements in aluminum are more than 800,000 tons, and TALCO annually spends more than $100 million on transportation of alumina alone.  

 We will recall that a tripartite memorandum of intentions on construction of the mentioned was signed among Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO), TALCO Management and China National Heavy Machinery Corporation (CNHMC) in Dushanbe on May 2.  The sides agreed to conclude an agreement and launch construction of both plants in June this year.