The Akimat of the Zhambyl region has announced plans to construct an enrichment complex at the Gagarinskoye gold deposit located in the Kordai district. This initiative, led by the company Shokpar-Gagarinskoye, is set to be discussed in public hearings scheduled for September 22. The project aims to establish a processing plant with a capacity of up to 1 million tonnes of ore per year, focusing on the production of lead and zinc concentrates, as well as doré alloy from the ore processing outputs.
Construction of the enrichment complex is slated for 2026-2027, with commissioning activities expected to commence next year. The facility will be situated 22 km northwest of the village of Alga, near the Almaty-Taraz highway, with the nearest settlement, Sogandy, located over 3 km to the northwest. Additionally, the Almaty railway runs north of the site, with the closest railway station, Otar, approximately 45 km away via dirt roads.
Last year, reports indicated that the annual capacity of the Shokpar-Gagarinskoye mining and metallurgical complex was projected at 500,000 tonnes, with an estimated cost of 47 billion tenge. Local authorities assisted the investor in securing land, and a public-private partnership was proposed for the construction of an electricity transmission line.
Recently, the Ministry of Industry announced that the scientific and production association Kazmekhanobr had developed an effective technology for the comprehensive processing of polymetallic ores from the Gagarinskoye deposit, which underpins the project’s construction plans. The new combined gravity-flotation technology aims to extract free gold and silver initially, followed by selective flotation of lead and zinc, and subsequent hydrometallurgical processing of the gold-silver-bearing product.
According to financial reports for 2025, Shokpar-Gagarinskoye holds two licenses for gold mining at the Shokpar and Gagarinskoye deposits in the Zhambyl region until 2038, having previously held exploration contracts for these mineral sites. Between 2020 and 2021, the company drilled 147 geological exploration wells, amounting to 22,223.5 linear meters of core drilling. Based on updated geological data, a mineral resource assessment was conducted in 2022 in accordance with the JORC Code (2012), including reserves estimation for both open-pit and underground mining methods.
In terms of environmental considerations, the project documentation includes a material balance for ore processing, indicating a doré alloy output of 1.483 tonnes, 7,100 tonnes of lead concentrate, and 9,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate. Historical data from 2019 indicated that the Gagarinskoye deposit had approved reserves of 2,257.4 thousand tonnes of ore and 10.1 tonnes of gold, with an average gold content of 4.48 grams per tonne.
The Shokpar deposit was similarly assessed with reserves of 1,554.1 thousand tonnes of ore and 11 tonnes of gold, averaging 7.05 grams per tonne. Plans for the Shokpar deposit included open-pit mining until 2028, transitioning to underground mining by 2035. The Gagarinskoye deposit’s operational plans were revised in 2022, targeting an annual extraction of 500,000 tonnes of ore via open-pit methods until 2026, followed by a shift to underground mining.
In 2021, Shokpar-Gagarinskoye was sold for 4.2 billion tenge to Sunlight Investments, whose current owners are Ualikhan Atageldiev and Igor Vetiul, with Diyar Kanashov appointed as the director. Recent financial reports detail loans received by the company, indicating ongoing financial activity as it prepares for the upcoming construction and operational phases.
