Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine
Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC) is the largest mining company in Armenia and one of the 10 leading molybdenum producers in the world. The history of ZCMC goes back to the Soviet era. In the spring of 1952, the combine released its first serial product. Initially, the mine was operated by combining underground and open pit mining. From 1957-1959 – the operation was solely open pit mining. Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine is located in the southwestern part of Armenia, in the city of Kajaran of the Syunik region of Armenia, 30 km west of the regional center Kapan and about 350 km from the capital Yerevan. The annual production as of 2023 is 22 million tons of ore per annum. ZCMC is the largest taxpayer of Armenia and the largest employer of Syunik region for most of the last decade. As of 2023, it has around 4,500 employees.
Since 2022, most of the shares of the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine belong to the GeoProMining Gold group of companies. 21% of ZCMC shares belong to the government of Armenia.