This week, Kazakhstan’s Metallurgy and Enrichment Institute under the Satbayev University and the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology signed a memorandum of cooperation. The partnership aims to establish a research center in Kazakhstan focused on high-temperature and high-activity materials based on rare metals. According to a press release from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the collaboration will also advance technologies for producing high-quality industrial products.
Kazakhstani scientists are keen to commercialize domestic innovations related to the extraction of strategically important metals. Meanwhile, South Korean developers will contribute technologies for producing high-tech products using these rare metals.
The two institutes plan to invest over $10 million in this five-year project, with Kazakhstan’s Minister of Science, Sayasat Nurbek, overseeing its progress personally.
The ministry also highlighted that the collaboration will include joint scientific seminars and master classes, as well as potential bilateral exchange programs for scientists to effectively develop innovative solutions.
It is worth noting that last year, the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) discovered a major new lithium deposit in Kazakhstan, which is likely to attract foreign investors for its development.
