Kazakhstan’s state geological company Qazgeology will continue its joint venture with Turkish-Dutch holding CoreX — formerly known as Yildirim — at the Mailyshat licence area within the Bakanas exploration block in East Kazakhstan Region, while four other CoreX joint ventures with Qazgeology are being wound up after failing to identify commercially significant mineral resources.
Tau-Ken Samruk, the state mining holding that owns Qazgeology, confirmed in a response to Qazba.kz that the contract extension for Mailyshat Resources LLP is currently under consideration by the Ministry of Industry and Construction. Work at the 152 square kilometre gold exploration area continues in accordance with subsoil use legislation pending a decision. Qazgeology holds a 25% stake in Mailyshat Resources LLP, with the remaining interest held by CoreX subsidiary DTK Metals and Mining B.V. Exploration investment at the Mailyshat licence from 2016 to 2021 totalled 481 million tenge.
The four joint ventures being closed are Surovsky Resources LLP (platinum group elements and gold), Tekturmas Resources LLP (chrome), Charsky Resources LLP (chrome) and Shiderty-Ekibastuz Resources LLP (chrome). Tau-Ken Samruk confirmed that all contractual geological exploration work at these four sites was completed but did not result in the identification of mineral reserves of industrial or economic significance. The licence areas have been returned to the state in accordance with Kazakhstani legislation and the joint ventures are now undergoing statutory liquidation procedures.
Importantly, all exploration at the four closed projects was financed by the Turkish partner on a free-carry basis, meaning Qazgeology bore no costs and suffered no financial losses from the closures.
