Private investment in Kazakhstan’s geological exploration sector has grown 2.5 times in recent years, officials announced at the MINEX mining and geology forum in Astana, where more than 500 participants from 33 countries gathered to advance the country’s ambitions as a global critical minerals hub.
The forum served as the primary dialogue platform between the Kazakhstani state and international investors, with discussions centred on deep processing development, technological innovation and the strengthening of long-term strategic partnerships. Forum executive chairman Artur Polyakov set out the country’s case for global relevance: “With more than 9,500 deposits, significant world reserves of uranium, tungsten, copper, rare earth metals, lithium and graphite, and a location between Europe and Asia, Kazakhstan has the potential to become one of the world’s most important critical minerals centres.”
A key policy announcement came from Vice Minister of Industry and Construction Iran Sharkhan, who highlighted the activation of a previously dormant legal mechanism — the Solid Mineral Processing Agreement — as a major driver of near-term investment. “We have made the mechanism that was previously in a dormant state — called the Solid Minerals Processing Agreement — work in full. By our rough estimates, in the short term this mechanism will attract around $10 billion to the sector and create 10,000 additional jobs,” he said. The instrument creates binding commitments for investors to process raw materials domestically, directly incentivising value-added industrial development over simple extraction and export.
On the state side, approximately $500 million in government investment is earmarked for geological exploration over the next three years — nearly double the level of public funding directed to the sector over the preceding decade. Authorities identified improved investment climate, digitalisation and the significant expansion of exploration activity as the three key priorities underpinning the sector’s development strategy.
