Kazakhstani junior exploration company Qaz Aurum is advancing a diverse portfolio of antimony, copper and gold projects across several regions of the country, driven in part by geopolitical shifts that have dramatically elevated the strategic value of the minerals it is chasing, the company’s director Takhir Kaliyev told the Geoscience and Exploration Central Asia forum in Astana.
At the Karasuk antimony project in Aktobe Region, historic data points to high-quality mineralisation averaging 6.5% antimony, with peak grades reaching as high as 31% at individual occurrences. The project hosts two mineral showings separated by a tectonic fault which the company believes could host additional resources. All preparatory work has been completed, geophysical surveys and prospecting traverses are planned, and Qaz Aurum says it is ready to begin drilling at Karasuk this year. Antimony — a metalloid that hardens alloys and has critical applications in defence, flame retardants and battery technology — has surged in strategic importance following China’s export restrictions on the material.
On copper, the company is active at the Egemen porphyry copper project near the settlement of Shortandy in Akmola Region, which benefits from well-developed existing infrastructure. Of 17 drill holes completed to date, 16 have intersected ore-grade mineralisation. The mineralised strike extends approximately two kilometres with widths of up to 300 metres, and the deposit also contains molybdenum. Historical surveys conducted in the 1970s estimated copper potential at 10 million tonnes across the broader area, while Qaz Aurum has so far delineated 370,000 tonnes of copper equivalent in resources. Drilling and metallurgical testing are planned over the next two years, and the company is actively seeking investors to support the programme given current funding constraints.
The most advanced project in the portfolio is the Ungyrtas gold deposit, located 70 kilometres from Almaty. Qaz Aurum describes it as a high-grade, bonanza-style system — sample grades have exceeded 100 grams of gold per tonne in multiple instances, with a peak assay of 789 grams per tonne. A preliminary resource block modelled in Micromine returned an average grade of 19 grams per tonne over a 50-metre intersection. Metallurgical testwork using gravity separation and cyanidation has achieved gold recovery of 85.6%. The company has already reached an agreement with a processing plant located 70 kilometres away, allowing ore to be delivered without the need for capital-intensive on-site processing infrastructure. Drilling is planned for this year, with a resource estimate to follow, and the company intends to apply for a mining licence in 2026 with production targeted to begin the following year. Investor discussions are also underway for Ungyrtas.
In addition, Qaz Aurum is in the process of securing fresh exploration licences in the northern Pribalkhashye region, targeting copper and gold mineralisation. Following the forum, company geologists were set to travel to the area on a week-long field expedition to verify mineralisation described in historic geological reports, ahead of planned geophysical, geochemical and drilling programmes.
