A regulatory impasse has emerged around Solidcore Resources’ planned acquisition of the Tokhtar gold project in Kazakhstan’s Kostanai Region, after the Ministry of Industry and Construction stated it has received no application to transfer subsoil use rights for the project — even as Solidcore has been publicly waiting for government approval for more than a year.
In a formal response to inbusiness.kz via the eotinish electronic platform, the ministry confirmed it had received no application regarding the acquisition of the Tokhtar, South Tokhtar and Barambai licence areas, and said it therefore had no information on the reasons for the deal’s non-approval or its current status. Solidcore chief executive Vitaly Nesis told the publication in April that the deal had “not been approved by state authorities,” declining to elaborate further. The unresolved status of the transaction was also acknowledged during Solidcore’s 2025 annual results webcast without explanation.
The disconnect is puzzling given standard procedure: applications to transfer subsoil use rights for solid minerals are normally submitted to the relevant sectoral regulator — in this case the Ministry of Industry — raising the question of whether an application was ever formally submitted, and if so where it was directed.
Solidcore announced the intended acquisition more than a year ago. The deal was structured in two phases: a 51% stake to be purchased in the third quarter of 2025 for approximately $25 million, with the remaining 49% to follow based on a resource valuation of the Tokhtar, South Tokhtar and Barambai areas. JORC-compliant mineral resources at Tokhtar and South Tokhtar were estimated at 1.1 million ounces of gold, equivalent to approximately 34.2 tonnes. Aurora Minerals provided geological and legal support for the project.
Ownership records add further complexity to the picture. According to the Ministry of Industry’s solid minerals contract register, the Tokhtar production contract belonged to GRK Tokhtar LLP, while the South Tokhtar-Barambai exploration and production contract was held by Kompleksnaya Geologo-Ekologicheskaya Ekspeditsiya LLP. Both companies were linked to Mukhamedjan Turdakhunov, a long-serving president of the Sokolovskoye-Sarbaiskoye Mining and Processing Association within ERG. Aurora Minerals’ website identifies the seller as KAML Kazakhstan LLP, and public data from adata.kz shows a related entity — KAML Limited, registered in 2024 — with Turdakhunov and ERG board member Eduard Surlevich listed as founders.
