Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Construction has announced that 50 deposits containing gold and rare metals will be made available for exploration and production rights via an electronic auction set for June 2025.
Almas Kushumov, Director of the Ministry’s Department of Subsoil Use, revealed the plans during the MINEX Kazakhstan forum. According to Kushumov, the auction will include deposits with confirmed balance reserves of gold, coal, rare metals, and polymetals.
The auction will take place through the Unified Subsoil Use Platform (minerals.e-qazyna.kz), and all procedures — including document submission — will be handled online. Licenses granted through this process will cover both exploration and production, with the latter valid for 25 years.
Companies from the United States, European Union, and China have already expressed interest and submitted applications. The Ministry expects to publish the full list of 50 available deposits in the coming days.
Between 2023 and 2024, Kazakhstan successfully awarded 117 deposits through similar electronic auctions, raising more than KZT29 billion (approximately $55.9 million) in signing bonuses.
Kazakhstan currently has over 9,000 registered deposits, including 987 solid mineral sites. Due to outdated geological data—some of it over 30 years old—the government is putting strong emphasis on both exploration and production.
The 2018 introduction of the Code on Subsoil and Subsoil Use has notably improved the investment environment, reportedly tripling private capital inflow into the sector.
The state mining firm Tau-Ken Samruk is also pushing forward with exploration at the Kuirektykol rare earth site, where recent studies suggest the potential for significant new reserves that could elevate Kazakhstan’s standing as a global rare earth leader.
