Russia's Udokan launches copper cathode production following fire-induced delay

Russian mining company Udokan Copper announced on Wednesday that it has commenced copper cathode production at its facility in Russia's Far East, nearly three years after a fire postponed the original startup.

Udokan, Russia's largest copper project, is currently under U.S. sanctions. The operation began producing copper concentrate in September 2023.

The project's operator had originally planned to bring a hydrometallurgical plant online in the second quarter of 2024, with an annual capacity of up to 135,000 tonnes of copper, produced either as cathodes via the solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW) process or as concentrate.

Output from the first phase of the project is expected to increase to 150,000 tonnes per year starting in 2026, with supply destined for both the domestic Russian market and export markets in China and other Asian countries.

A fire in December 2023 damaged part of the cathode production facility just months before it was scheduled to commence operations in the second quarter of 2024. Concentrate production, however, remained unaffected by the incident.

Once the second phase of the project-previously slated for launch in 2028-comes on stream, annual copper output is projected to reach approximately 550,000 tonnes, potentially positioning Udokan among the world's five largest copper producers.

The International Copper Study Group forecasts global refined copper demand at 28.66 million tonnes in 2026 and 29.24 million tonnes in 2027, with the market expected to remain in surplus over that period.