Region: Europe

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bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]The MINEX Eurasia conference in London hosted on 1 December 2025 a keynote address by H.E. Meder Mashiev, Minister of Natural Resources, Ecology, and Technical Supervision of Kyrgyzstan, outlining the country’s strategic vision for its critical minerals sector.

 

Kyrgyzstan’s Strategic Minerals Vision

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The Minister outlined Kyrgyzstan’s methodical approach to prioritising and developing its critical minerals sector, identifying 21 key minerals based on global demand, local deposits, and resource concentrations. Kyrgyzstan’s analysis resulted in the selection of 4 priority projects, 5 promising deposits, and 16 prospective areas for further study and development. These assets, spread across antimony, beryllium, rare earths, molybdenum, bismuth, zinc, silver, and others, offer significant commercial and strategic potential for investors and end-users in energy, electronics, and high-value manufacturing.

 

Investment and Development Framework

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State companies, notably Kyrgyzgeology, are driving exploration and project development, supported by government incentives and openness to international partnership. Strategic sites are being actively promoted for joint ventures or direct investment. Major domestic and international firms manage several large sites, while more than 100 mining enterprises operate in the country-spanning gold, copper, and polymetallic ores.

 

Tax and Licensing Regime

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The session detailed Kyrgyzstan’s tax policy, which includes a mix of one-time bonuses for mining rights, royalties, profit tax, and VAT. The overall effective tax burden stands between 25–30%, complemented by social and environmental levies such as waste disposal, emissions, and water usage fees. Procedures for subsoil use licensing are harmonized with those in neighbouring countries, with initiatives being considered to simplify the processes and make it more transparent.

 

ESG, Transparency, and Sustainable Mining

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Kyrgyzstan’s evolving strategy strongly emphasizes environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards, aiming to foster responsible mineral development, minimize ecological impact, ensure transparency, and maximize benefits for local communities. The new strategy promotes the deployment of advanced technologies, environmental sustainability, and transparent investment processes, aligning with best practices to attract reliable, long-term partners.

 

Opportunities for International Partnership

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Kyrgyzstan welcomes active collaboration with global investors and mining enterprises, seeking to leverage modern mining technologies, improve environmental outcomes, and maximize economic benefits. The country’s critical mineral strategy is closely linked to green growth targets and broader Eurasian supply chain integration.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”3 SESSION BRIEF” color=”blue” border_width=”5″ css=””][vc_empty_space][vc_empty_space][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_empty_space][vc_raw_html css=””]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwc3R5bGUlM0QlMjdkaXNwbGF5JTNBYmxvY2slM0JtYXJnaW4lM0FhdXRvJTNCd2lkdGglM0E3NDJweCUzQm1heC13aWR0aCUzQTEwMCUyNSUzQmFzcGVjdC1yYXRpbyUzQTEuNzcwODgzMDU0ODkyNjAxMyUzQiUyNyUyMHNyYyUzRCUyN2h0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGa2lsbGVycGxheWVyLmNvbSUyRndhdGNoJTJGdmlkZW8lMkY5NjI3MDdhYS0yYjEzLTRjNzktYWUxMi0xMDM3NmRjZWYxYmIlMjclMjBmcmFtZWJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBhbGxvdyUzRCUyMmF1dG9wbGF5JTNCJTIwZ3lyb3Njb3BlJTNCJTIwcGljdHVyZS1pbi1waWN0dXJlJTNCJTIyJTIwYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuJTNFJTNDJTJGaWZyYW1lJTNF[/vc_raw_html][vc_empty_space][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_empty_space][vc_raw_html css=””]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwc3R5bGUlM0QlMjdkaXNwbGF5JTNBYmxvY2slM0JtYXJnaW4lM0FhdXRvJTNCd2lkdGglM0E3NDJweCUzQm1heC13aWR0aCUzQTEwMCUyNSUzQmFzcGVjdC1yYXRpbyUzQTEuNzcwODgzMDU0ODkyNjAxMyUzQiUyNyUyMHNyYyUzRCUyN2h0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGa2lsbGVycGxheWVyLmNvbSUyRndhdGNoJTJGdmlkZW8lMkYyNDJjMjJiYi05MWY4LTQ0YWEtOTNkMC1jZjUwM2U4NzE5MjklMjclMjBmcmFtZWJvcmRlciUzRCUyMjAlMjIlMjBhbGxvdyUzRCUyMmF1dG9wbGF5JTNCJTIwZ3lyb3Njb3BlJTNCJTIwcGljdHVyZS1pbi1waWN0dXJlJTNCJTIyJTIwYWxsb3dmdWxsc2NyZWVuJTNFJTNDJTJGaWZyYW1lJTNF[/vc_raw_html][vc_empty_space][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]The MINEX Eurasia conference held in London on 1 December 2025 featured a session focused on “Financing Mining and Critical Infrastructure Projects in Central Asia.” This session drew significant attention due to the surge in demand for critical minerals needed for the global energy transition, with Central Asia viewed as a region of immense opportunity for mining and infrastructure development. The rich resource base, coupled with strategic location and progressive economies, makes this region both attractive and complex for investors aiming to tap into greenfield exploration, brownfield expansions, downstream processing, and large-scale infrastructure projects.

 

The session framed Central Asia as a strategically located, resource‑rich region that can supply critical minerals for the global energy transition, provided investors can navigate political, regulatory and geological risk. Speakers stressed that well‑structured projects spanning greenfield exploration, brownfield expansions, processing and infrastructure can be highly profitable once risk is properly shared and de‑risking instruments are in place.​​

 

Capital markets and Central Asian issuers

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The first part of the discussion Moderated by Alexander Keepin, Partner at Simmons & Simmons, the session was explicitly designed to bridge miners and financiers, linking the need for massive new CapEx to the evolving toolkit of capital markets, development finance and commercial lenders active in Eurasia.​​

In the capital markets panel, Ayuna Nechaeva outlined how London’s public markets continue to finance growth in mining and energy, even in an environment often described as “difficult” for IPOs. Recent examples she highlighted included sizeable listings and bond deals by Eurasian issuers, with particular emphasis on companies from Uzbekistan raising substantial volumes via Eurobonds that were heavily oversubscribed, reflecting strong investor appetite for gold and uranium exposure.​

She also underlined London’s role as a venue for both equity and fixed‑income issuance from Central Asia, noting that robust governance, ESG performance and transparent disclosure are now central to attracting broad institutional demand. For junior miners, the AIM market remains important but is undergoing reforms to keep admission and ongoing requirements proportionate so that earlier‑stage companies are not treated like large main‑market issuers, while still meeting baseline investor protections.​

Dialling in from Astana, Ainur Kapparova contrasted London’s depth with the more nascent capital markets environment in Kazakhstan. She pointed to a handful of recent mining‑related listings on the Astana International Exchange, including cross‑listings alongside Hong Kong, but emphasised that exploration‑stage companies still face resistance from local underwriters who are reluctant to take Greenfield risk despite evident interest from local high‑net‑worth investors.​​

 

Exploration funding gaps and local ecosystems

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A key theme from Kapparova’s intervention was the structural funding gap at the exploration stage in Kazakhstan and wider Central Asia. While the country has liberalised its mining code and opened licensing to more foreign applicants, many juniors struggle to finance work programs needed to move from historical Soviet‑era data to internationally reportable resources under JORC, NI 43‑101 or the Kazakh KAZRC standard.​

She described concept‑stage work on a mining platform or accelerator intended to match early‑stage projects with both strategic and financial investors comfortable with geological and jurisdictional risk. The ambition is to help domestic juniors progress to feasibility and secure the resource classifications required for listing on the Astana International Exchange, thereby anchoring more of the value chain inside Kazakhstan rather than exporting all capital‑raising to London or Hong Kong.​​

This exploration gap was placed in a broader regional context: Central Asia’s subsoil remains underexplored relative to its potential, despite hosting a wide array of critical minerals highlighted in several other MINEX Forum sessions and external analyses, from copper and uranium to battery‑related by‑products produced via base‑metal smelting.​

 

Project finance, DFIs and risk mitigation

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The second panel, “Mining Project Finance and Investment,” shifted the discussion from public markets to long‑tenor debt and blended finance. Under the moderation of Sara Barin, Partner at Simmons & Simmons, the panellists unpacked how commercial banks, development finance institutions and specialist funds structure deals for mining and associated infrastructure in higher‑risk jurisdictions.​​

Stephan Pueschel, KfW IPEX‑Bank, Azamat Kasymbekov, EBRD and Ekaterina Autet, IFC drew on a pipeline of Eurasian case studies to illustrate typical project finance features: non‑recourse structures, long maturities, political‑risk guarantees, export credit support and strong covenants around ESG performance and community engagement. They emphasised that success in Central Asia hinges on credible sponsors, bankable offtake arrangements, and robust environmental and social management systems aligned with international standards.​

Advisers from Lee Barnes, Oval Advisory and Cailey Barker, Xcelsior Capital highlighted the role of private capital and specialist funds, which often step in alongside DFIs to provide mezzanine, royalty, or streaming‑style instruments that can fill funding gaps while aligning repayment with project cash flow. This layering of public and private capital, they argued, is increasingly necessary to move projects from advanced exploration through construction in a world of volatile commodity prices and heightened geopolitical risk.​

 

Outlook for Central Asian mining finance

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Across both panels, speakers converged on a cautiously optimistic outlook for 2026 and beyond, while acknowledging that geopolitical shocks and market volatility can quickly affect timing and pricing. The accelerating demand for critical minerals to power electrification, renewable energy and digital technologies is expected to keep investor interest high in uranium, copper, gold and other strategic commodities where Central Asia holds significant reserves.​

However, realising this potential will require continued capital‑market reforms, deeper local investor bases, and stronger project pipelines that meet global expectations on governance and sustainability. The MINEX Eurasia session demonstrated that the building blocks are in place: a sophisticated London market open to Central Asian issuers, an emerging ecosystem in Astana seeking to support juniors, and a set of DFIs and commercial lenders prepared to finance high‑quality projects that align commercial returns with the global energy transition.[/ohio_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”2 SESSION BRIEF” color=”blue” border_width=”5″ css=””][vc_empty_space][vc_empty_space][vc_raw_html css=””]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwc3R5bGUlM0QlMjdkaXNwbGF5JTNBYmxvY2slM0JtYXJnaW4lM0FhdXRvJTNCd2lkdGglM0ExMjgwcHglM0JtYXgtd2lkdGglM0ExMDAlMjUlM0Jhc3BlY3QtcmF0aW8lM0ExLjc3MDg4MzA1NDg5MjYwMTMlM0IlMjclMjBzcmMlM0QlMjdodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRmtpbGxlcnBsYXllci5jb20lMkZ3YXRjaCUyRnZpZGVvJTJGODYwNzA3NGItODJlNS00NjY0LWE5YjMtNGUzODlmM2M3ZDYxJTI3JTIwZnJhbWVib3JkZXIlM0QlMjIwJTIyJTIwYWxsb3clM0QlMjJhdXRvcGxheSUzQiUyMGd5cm9zY29wZSUzQiUyMHBpY3R1cmUtaW4tcGljdHVyZSUzQiUyMiUyMGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][vc_empty_space]The second session of the MINEX Eurasia Conference, held in London on 1 December 2025, brought together regional energy leaders and experts to debate one of the most pressing issues shaping Eurasia’s future — how to maintain energy security while pursuing decarbonisation targets and responding to global economic pressures. Titled “Energy Security Realism: Balancing Decarbonisation with Economic Reality”, the session examined how countries such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Azerbaijan are redefining energy policy amid shifting geopolitical and environmental dynamics.

A Pragmatic Energy Debate

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Framed around the central question of whether the energy transition must always mean abandoning fossil fuels, the session reflected a pragmatic tone — one that resonated with the region’s economic realities. Chair Kruthika Anastasia Bala, Managing Director of Resources Now, opened by underscoring the regional complexity: “Energy security means very different things depending on geography, industrial base, and social needs. Central Asia must find its own path balancing nuclear, fossil fuels, and renewables.”

Bala noted that the region’s energy strategies are increasingly shaped by national priorities, not by imported global rhetoric. This sentiment set the stage for an engaging series of presentations exploring uranium, coal, renewables, and critical minerals.

Uranium’s Strategic Role

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Tracey Laight, Principal Resource Geologist at SLR Consulting, provided a detailed assessment of The Resource Base Underpinning Strategic Changes. She highlighted the growing strategic importance of uranium, noting that “Kazakhstan has been the world’s leading uranium producer since 2009,” contributing around 14% of global known reserves. With nuclear energy capacity expected to double by 2040, Laight stressed the urgent need for renewed exploration investment: “If planned reactors come online, current resources could dwindle from 90 years to just 40 years of supply.”

Her presentation called for greater support for junior mining companies in Central Asia, arguing that “more agile, risk-tolerant exploration” will be essential to meet global and domestic demands in the decades ahead.

 

Shortly after the conference on 5 December Kazakhstan’s Senate has approved, in two readings, a package of amendments to the Subsoil and Subsoil Use Code aimed at significantly strengthening state control over the country’s strategic uranium reserves. The reform marks one of the most substantial regulatory shifts in Kazakhstan’s uranium sector in recent years, reinforcing the dominant role of national company Kazatomprom and tightening restrictions on foreign participation. Under the proposed amendments, if geological exploration confirms uranium mineralisation or deposits, subsoil users will be required either to return the explored area to the state or to transfer priority purchase rights for uranium to the national company. Lawmakers say the measure is designed to eliminate risks associated with “parallel activities” by different subsoil users operating on overlapping or adjoining territories. Read further

 

Kazakhstan’s Energy Quadrilemma

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Joining remotely, Nicholas Pomeroy, Founder & General Director of AngloKazakh, introduced a new framework for understanding Kazakhstan’s transition — what he termed the Energy Quadrilemma: balancing cost, carbon, security, and water. Building on the traditional “energy trilemma,” Pomeroy argued that water scarcity presents a fourth critical constraint. “No water source begins in Kazakhstan,” he noted. “This reality is reshaping the feasibility of thermal, nuclear, and hydrogen projects alike.”

Pomeroy reviewed the country’s three decades of energy evolution, from post-Soviet hydrocarbon investment to a present defined by ageing infrastructure and growing domestic demand. “Kazakhstan’s energy transition is no longer led by climate goals,” he said. “It’s driven by necessity.” His recommendation emphasised integrated, domestic-first solutions — strengthening grids, water infrastructure, and renewables before pursuing export mega-projects.

Financing the Transition

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Veronika Krakovich, Regional Head of Energy for Eurasia at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), discussed the multilateral bank’s expanding portfolio in Central Asia. The EBRD has financed more than €9 billion across 190 energy projects, prioritising renewable generation and grid modernisation.

Krakovich outlined initiatives supporting solar, wind, and hydropower developments, including groundbreaking projects such as a 1 GW solar-battery hybrid in Uzbekistan and the region’s first green hydrogen pilot – a partnership between Acwa Power and Uzkimesanoat. “Falling technology costs have made renewables competitive,” she said. “By coupling green energy with policy support, Central Asia can reduce fossil fuel dependence while boosting energy export potential.”

She also emphasised that Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan’s reform of auction systems and electricity laws have significantly improved investor confidence, positioning both countries as early movers in Eurasia’s green finance landscape.

The Broader Picture

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Additional contributions touched on uranium chemistry innovation, the role of small modular reactors (SMRs), and the emerging geopolitics of critical minerals. Speakers such as Amanzhol Yelemessov of the Atomic Industry Development Association and Dr. Dinara Ermakova, an independent nuclear expert, discussed how nuclear development could bolster regional stability while supporting net-zero objectives. Benjamin Godwin, Partner and Head of Analysis at PRISM Strategic Intelligence, rounded out the panel by examining how Central Asia can balance energy ambitions with critical mineral extraction strategies, ensuring long-term resilience and economic competitiveness.

Toward Energy Security Realism

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The consensus from the session was clear: Eurasia’s energy transformation will not follow a single trajectory. Nations across the region are embracing an approach grounded in energy security realism — one that values reliability and development alongside decarbonization. As Bala closed the session, she reminded delegates that “the transition is not about choosing between coal, uranium, or solar — it’s about designing a system where they can coexist, sustainably and securely.”[/ohio_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_text_separator title=”1 SESSION BRIEF” color=”blue” border_width=”5″ css=””][vc_empty_space][vc_empty_space][vc_raw_html css=””]JTNDaWZyYW1lJTIwc3R5bGUlM0QlMjdkaXNwbGF5JTNBYmxvY2slM0JtYXJnaW4lM0FhdXRvJTNCd2lkdGglM0ExMjgwcHglM0JtYXgtd2lkdGglM0ExMDAlMjUlM0Jhc3BlY3QtcmF0aW8lM0ExLjc3MDg4MzA1NDg5MjYwMTMlM0IlMjclMjBzcmMlM0QlMjdodHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRmtpbGxlcnBsYXllci5jb20lMkZ3YXRjaCUyRnZpZGVvJTJGZTY2ZWQyZTMtZWM3OC00YjU5LTg3NDAtNjBjN2Q2YzZmZjYyJTI3JTIwZnJhbWVib3JkZXIlM0QlMjIwJTIyJTIwYWxsb3clM0QlMjJhdXRvcGxheSUzQiUyMGd5cm9zY29wZSUzQiUyMHBpY3R1cmUtaW4tcGljdHVyZSUzQiUyMiUyMGFsbG93ZnVsbHNjcmVlbiUzRSUzQyUyRmlmcmFtZSUzRQ==[/vc_raw_html][vc_empty_space]The opening session “The New Resource Frontier: Unlocking Central Asia’s Critical Minerals Powerhouse” at MINEX EURASIA 2025 set out a clear message: Central Asia is moving from geological promise to a contested, strategic hub in the global race for critical raw materials, but finance, governance and patient project development still lag the rhetoric. The speakers framed the region as both a major opportunity for investors and governments, and a test case for whether new supply chains can be built on higher environmental, social and governance standards rather than on geology alone.

Setting the scene: promise and underinvestment

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The session opened with a reminder that Central Asia sits on world‑class deposits of lithium, tungsten, rare earths and other critical minerals hosted in major metallogenic belts stretching from Eastern Europe into China. Kazakhstan alone, the ninth‑largest country by area with one of the world’s lowest population densities, embodies this combination of scale, sparse settlement and rich geology. Yet despite this endowment, exploration spending in Central Asia remains modest compared with peer regions, and the number of Western exploration and development companies active on the ground is strikingly low.

Using historical exploration data, the opening presentation underlined that Kazakhstan dominates regional exploration budgets but sits far below traditional mining jurisdictions when benchmarked internationally. The point was not to question the geological potential but to highlight a persistent investment gap and to ask why more junior and mid‑tier companies are not entering or partnering with the many capable local firms already operating in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and neighbouring states. The audience heard that while there are standout projects, such as a recently advanced vanadium feasibility study in southern Kazakhstan, these remain exceptions in a landscape where far more risk capital is needed to convert maps into mines.

Time, risk and the reality of project development

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A second theme was the mismatch between political expectations and the realities of mine development timelines. Participants were reminded that moving from grassroots exploration to production is a multi‑stage, high‑attrition process: for every project that reaches construction, many fall away due to technical, economic or permitting barriers. Exploration, feasibility work and environmental and social assessment are all costly and time‑consuming, and the global average time from discovery to production has stretched from around 15 years to more than 16 years in recent datasets. Central Asia is not immune to these global trends, even if the region’s geology appears “easy” on maps.

Speakers warned against the illusion that attractive maps and belts translate into quick wins, stressing that governments, investors and communities must be prepared for long‑term engagement. That, in turn, puts a premium on stable rules of the game and predictable permitting frameworks. The discussion linked the slow pace of project maturation to investor hesitation: if regulations, land access and environmental requirements are unclear or shifting, the long payback periods typical of mining become harder to justify, even in geologically rich terrain.

Governance reforms: it’s not all about geology

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Several contributors emphasised that Central Asia’s emerging critical minerals story is increasingly a governance story. Kazakhstan was highlighted as a regional leader in modernising its mining framework: adoption of an international‑style reporting code (KAZRC), the creation of a national register of qualified experts, development of a mineral cadastre, and reforms to the subsoil and environmental codes. The shift towards “best available techniques” and away from “pay to pollute” approaches is starting to embed lower‑impact, more resource‑efficient mining practices into project design.

These reforms are still evolving, but they signal to investors that rules are becoming more transparent and aligned with international standards. The message from the panel was that other Central Asian states do not need to reinvent the wheel: Uzbekistan’s new mining code and recent joint geological initiatives with Kazakhstan, including cooperation on rare earths and other critical minerals, were cited as examples of regional learning in action. The overarching argument was that geology unlocks interest, but modern, enforceable governance frameworks unlock capital at scale.

Competing strategies: Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

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The session contrasted how Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are structuring their critical raw material strategies. In Kazakhstan, authorities initially hoped that clear long‑term potential would be enough to draw private domestic and foreign mining groups into critical minerals, but investors largely prioritised better understood copper and gold projects. A government “Comprehensive Plan” for rare and rare earth metals for 2024–2028, backed by relatively modest public funding, did little to shift that calculus. In response, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan has announced a multi‑year, billion‑dollar financing programme targeting extraction and processing of rare earths and critical minerals, explicitly accepting that the state will have to play a leading role in the next phase.

Uzbekistan, by contrast, has moved faster to build an integrated, state‑anchored model. A dedicated state‑owned critical raw materials company, TMK (Uzbekistan Technological Metals Company), has been tasked with developing more than 100 investment projects across 25 strategic metals and minerals. By 2030, Uzbekistan aims to discover scores of new deposits, including tungsten, lithium, graphite, vanadium and titanium, and to massively scale tungsten mining and processing, with flagship projects such as the Sarakool deposit and an on‑site processing plant designed to serve both domestic users and global markets. This approach is explicitly built around upstream, midstream and downstream integration, using the state as a central partner for foreign investors rather than leaving the sector’s development to the private market alone.

Local value creation and industrial policy

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Across both countries, the discussion highlighted a shift from simply exporting concentrates to capturing more value in‑country. Kazakhstan has identified four priority industrial uses for its critical raw materials: semiconductors, batteries, heat‑resistant alloys and permanent magnets. Existing plants, such as the Ulba Metallurgical Plant producing high‑end alloys, and new ventures processing battery‑grade manganese sulphate and graphite, are intended to seed domestic industries in batteries, electric vehicles, magnets, aerospace components, medical devices and renewable energy equipment.

Uzbekistan’s TMK strategy similarly couples mining projects with processing plants and technology parks, positioning critical minerals as feedstock for broader industrialisation. Many of the high‑profile joint ventures are with Chinese state‑owned or large private mining, technology and engineering firms, which bring capital, processing technology and turnkey project delivery capabilities. These partnerships cover tungsten, molybdenum, nickel and other metals, and include plans for hydrometallurgical facilities, waste reprocessing and even joint development of energy storage systems. The panel noted that such deals can accelerate industrial build‑out but also deepen dependencies if governance and benefit‑sharing are not carefully managed.

Geopolitics: a crowded chessboard

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Speakers framed 2025 as an inflection point in the global race for Central Asia’s critical raw materials. China still enjoys significant structural advantages: long‑term strategic planning, the Belt and Road infrastructure backbone, turnkey engineering and construction capacity, and the ability to mobilise large pools of capital. Chinese entities already dominate many rare earth, tungsten and PGM joint ventures in the region and are deeply embedded in local supply chains.

However, other players are now asserting themselves more forcefully. The United States has moved beyond its traditional focus on hydrocarbons to seek offtake‑focused critical mineral deals underpinning both civilian and defence industries. Its approach is often more transactional, favouring secure supply over localised manufacturing, which can limit host‑country benefits to export revenues. The European Union is pursuing strategic partnerships that bundle moderate finance with technical assistance on exploration, ESG and technology transfer, but faces constraints on the sheer scale and speed of investment and risks being outcompeted by China and the US. Meanwhile, South Korea, Japan, Türkiye and the UK are positioning themselves as niche partners offering technology, standards and specialised services rather than dominating capital.

OECD and UK: standards, finance and partnerships

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The OECD contribution to the session stressed that unlocking Central Asia’s minerals must go hand in hand with addressing governance, environmental and social risks. Its horisontal work programme on critical minerals in Central Asia focuses on three pillars: responsible business conduct and supply‑chain‑wide due diligence; environmental risk management and decarbonisation of mining, including water and waste; and tax and transfer pricing policies to ensure that a fair share of value remains in producer countries. Through regional dialogues and country‑level workshops in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, the OECD is working with governments to implement standards that can reduce corruption, illicit financial flows and environmental harm, and to produce a set of concrete policy recommendations scheduled for release in 2026.

The UK presentation underlined London’s ambition to be a key partner in this transformation. A new UK critical minerals strategy directly links mineral demand to eight priority growth sectors and emphasises building resilient, diversified supply chains through international partnerships. Existing and forthcoming memoranda of understanding on critical minerals with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan provide a political framework, while UK export finance tools are being adapted to support early‑stage project work and de‑risk responsible investment in overseas critical mineral projects that can supply UK industry. Case studies of UK companies already active in Central Asia—ranging from copper producers deploying renewable power to consultancies managing legacy mine waste and engineering firms supported by UK export credit- were used to illustrate how British expertise can span the full mine lifecycle, from exploration through rehabilitation.

Conclusion: from optimism to execution

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The session closed on a deliberately optimistic note. Central Asia’s critical minerals endowment, combined with active reform in countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and growing geopolitical attention from China, the US, the EU and the UK, creates a rare window to reshape global supply chains. Yet the speakers were clear that success will depend on more than geology and high‑level communiqués. It will require sustained exploration spending, realistic timelines, investor‑friendly but robust governance, and partnership models that balance foreign capital, local industrialisation and environmental responsibility. The message to the MINEX EURASIA audience was that the region has moved firmly onto the world’s critical minerals map; the challenge now is to turn that visibility into durable, sustainable projects that deliver for both global markets and local societies.[/ohio_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]