Kazakhstan’s vice minister of industry and construction has set out the most detailed account yet of how the country intends to move away from its raw material export model, outlining a package of tax, regulatory and infrastructure reforms at the MINEX Kazakhstan 2026 forum in Astana.
Iran Sharkhan described the transition as a shift toward a value-added economy, with domestic deep processing, technology development and the attraction of long-term strategic investors at its core. He confirmed that 2025 amendments to the Subsoil and Subsoil Use Code were designed to improve sector regulation, attract investment and digitalise licensing and permitting procedures — building a more transparent and predictable environment for business.
On taxation, the government plans to replace the mineral extraction tax with a royalty system, a change officials say will improve transparency and better align Kazakhstan with international investment norms. Alongside this, a new strategic investor status will be introduced, granting preferential conditions to companies that commit to processing raw materials inside the country — creating a direct financial incentive for domestic value-added production rather than export of unprocessed ore.
Sharkhan emphasised the breadth of Kazakhstan’s geological endowment, noting that the state register contains approximately 10,000 deposits. In 2025 alone, seventeen new deposits were added, including Kok-Zhon, Altyn-Shoko and Samombet. Geological survey coverage has now exceeded two million square kilometres, with particular emphasis being placed on more detailed mapping scales to improve the precision of prospective area identification.
To expand business access to subsoil resources, auctions for exploration and extraction rights across 50 deposits of solid minerals are planned for this year. On the infrastructure side, a modern laboratory complex is being built in Astana on the basis of the National Geological Survey, with commissioning scheduled for 2028. The facility is expected to raise the quality of geological research and accelerate the pace of deposit development across the country.
