Kazakhstan LLP Quzhal Resources plans to start development of the Kuzhal lead-zinc deposit in the Ulytau region. The mining plan was published on the Unified Environmental Portal of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The State Commission approved the mineral reserves of Kuzhal back in 1960. The balance reserves of the deposit amount to more than 3.26 million tons of lead-zinc ores, 220.1 thousand tons of lead (the average metal content in the ore is 4.02%), 87.2 thousand tons of zinc (the average content is 1.59%), 195.5 tons of silver (category C1) and 412 kg of gold (category C2).
According to the company’s project, for open pit mining, it is necessary to simultaneously remove 16.15 million m3 of overburden, as well as 400.6 thousand tons of off-balance ores.
Quzhal Resources is going to develop the field from 2026 to 2032. In the first year, the company intends to receive a little more than 283 thousand tons of ore, and in subsequent years to increase production to 500 thousand tons of ore per year.
In the mining plan of the enterprise, it is indicated that the deposit will be developed within the boundaries of three open pits: Western (26.13 ha), Eastern (7.1 ha) and Vostochny-2 (0.26 ha). In addition to the quarries, the project’s main facilities include overburden dumps, an ore storage facility, a topsoil storage facility, storage ponds for collecting and evaporating quarry water, and technological roads.
Public hearings, which will assess the impact of the future development of the field on the environment, will be held at the end of March 2023.