Next year, the mining company “Sary Arka” is set to unveil a new project at the Bugetkol deposit, located in the Aytekebi District of the Aktobe Region. The company plans to extract metals through open-pit mining, working two quarries down to a depth of 35 meters. The projected capacity of the new facility is estimated at 770,000 tons of oxidized nickel-cobalt ores annually, with an average nickel content of 0.9%.
According to the investment platform for projects in Russia and EAEU countries, the Bugetkol deposit has identified reserves of 251,200 tons of nickel and 13,700 tons of cobalt, making it a key source for exporting metal concentrates to China and other consumer nations. The platform also indicates a total investment of 41 billion rubles for the project.
As per the project documentation, mining operations are expected to run from 2025 to 2051. In addition to the quarries, “Sary Arka” plans to build a tailings storage facility with a capacity of 7.3 million cubic meters to hold waste from a hydrometallurgical plant. The company has already applied for a loan from the Development Bank of Kazakhstan to fund the construction of a nickel sulfate plant.
Earlier, the company KazMetalGroup announced that it also plans to launch its Dzhusalinskoe nickel-cobalt deposit in the Aktobe Region by 2025.
