Kazakhstan is overhauling the terms on which it engages with the mining industry, replacing a decades-old extraction tax with a royalty system and creating a new class of privileged investor for companies prepared to process minerals inside the country — a package of changes that vice minister of industry and construction Iran Sharkhan says marks a decisive break with the country’s raw material past.
The reforms, introduced through 2025 amendments to the Subsoil and Subsoil Use Code, are designed to do two things simultaneously: make Kazakhstan more competitive against other mineral-rich jurisdictions in the global race for investment, and ensure that the country captures more of the economic benefit from its own resources rather than simply shipping them abroad. The royalty system replaces the mineral extraction tax with a mechanism officials say is more transparent and better aligned with international investment norms. The strategic investor status adds a direct incentive for downstream commitment — companies that agree to process raw materials domestically receive preferential treatment unavailable to those focused solely on extraction.
Sharkhan told the MINEX Kazakhstan 2026 forum in Astana that the country’s geological endowment gives it an unusually strong hand to play in the current global environment. Ten thousand deposits are registered on the state books, seventeen of them added for the first time in 2025 — among them Kok-Zhon, Altyn-Shoko and Samombet. Geological survey coverage has reached 2.038 million square kilometres against a 2026 target of 2.2 million square kilometres, with a move to more detailed mapping scales in progress to sharpen identification of high-potential areas.
To translate geological potential into investment activity, fifty deposits will go to auction this year for exploration and extraction rights. And to strengthen the scientific infrastructure underpinning the entire system, a modern laboratory complex is being built in Astana on the basis of the National Geological Survey, due for commissioning in 2028.
The MINEX forum, running from 14 to 16 April, brought together more than 500 participants and over 1,000 visitors from 33 countries, with processing development and investment climate reform at the top of its agenda.
