MINEX Forum

Region: Kazakhstan

  • Ulytau Gold Processing Updates Environmental Documentation for Ashiktas Heap Leach Mine in Central Kazakhstan

    Ulytau Gold Processing Updates Environmental Documentation for Ashiktas Heap Leach Mine in Central Kazakhstan

    Ulytau Gold Processing has presented revised project documentation for the Ashiktas gold deposit in Ulytau Region at public hearings this week, with the update driven by the expiry of the current environmental permit defining the operation’s environmental impact.

    The revised project envisages reduced harmful emissions and the construction of a dedicated storage area with a waterproof liner for temporary stockpiling of spent ore for up to one year, with the accumulated technological mineral waste subsequently intended for reintroduction into the processing cycle.

    The Ashiktas processing complex was commissioned in late 2024 as a full-cycle heap leach operation producing Doré alloy. Despite the environmental documentation update, the project’s designed capacity remains unchanged: the complex is planned to process up to 1.5 million tonnes of ore per year and produce more than 1,700 kilograms of gold annually. Recoverable reserves at the deposit stand at approximately 6 tonnes of gold at an average grade of up to 1,600 grams per tonne, with full depletion expected over a nine-year mine life through to 2035.

    The company’s 2025 financial statements were not available in the depository database at time of reporting.

  • Kazakhstan’s Ädilet Party Business Council Calls for Deep Processing Push to Convert Mineral Wealth Into Domestic Economic Value

    Kazakhstan’s Ädilet Party Business Council Calls for Deep Processing Push to Convert Mineral Wealth Into Domestic Economic Value

    Kazakhstan’s political party Ädilet has convened a Business Council meeting bringing together representatives of major mining and metallurgical companies, industry associations and state bodies to debate how the country can retain more value from its mineral wealth domestically rather than exporting raw materials.

    The meeting concluded that deep processing, enterprise modernisation and production of high value-added goods must become the central priorities for Kazakhstan’s mining and metallurgical complex. The sector already accounts for approximately 8% of GDP, with production exceeding 14 trillion tenge and exports reaching $21.4 billion last year, according to figures presented by national mining holding Tau-Ken Samruk — but participants agreed the industry’s potential is substantially higher.

    Ädilet party chairman Aibek Dadebay framed the transition to deep processing as both an economic and a social justice issue. “This is not only an economic question. It is a question of fairness. The wealth of the land must be converted into the wealth of the people. That is why Ädilet fully supports the president’s strategic course toward deep processing, construction of new facilities and increasing output of higher value-added products,” he said.

    Discussion moved from strategic priorities to practical barriers: railway freight tariffs, enterprise modernisation costs, engineering workforce shortages and geological exploration funding. Tau-Ken Samruk chairman Nariman Absametov highlighted the growing strategic importance of rare and rare earth metals. “Access to rare and rare earth minerals is becoming one of the most important factors in the country’s global competitiveness. Kazakhstan possesses a unique mineral resource base, and its effective development will strengthen the country’s position in world markets,” he said.

    Dadebay said proposals from businesses, industry associations and experts would be systematised into a unified package of Ädilet initiatives on mining and metallurgical sector development. “Our task is to ensure that dialogue between business and the state continues on a daily basis,” he said.

  • ForgeX Solutions Plans 46-Year Open-Pit Mine at Kazakhstan’s Unique Tymlay Titanium-Magnetite Deposit in Zhambyl Region

    ForgeX Solutions Plans 46-Year Open-Pit Mine at Kazakhstan’s Unique Tymlay Titanium-Magnetite Deposit in Zhambyl Region

    AIFC-registered private company ForgeX Solutions Ltd is planning to develop the Tymlay titanium-magnetite deposit in the Korday District of Zhambyl Region through open-pit mining, with stripping operations starting in 2027 and ore extraction beginning in 2028 under a 46-year mine plan running to 2072.

    The project envisages extraction of 223.7 million tonnes of marketable ore at a processing plant capacity of 5 million tonnes per year. According to the published mining plan, the deposit’s reserves include 64.5 million tonnes of iron at an average grade of 28.83% and 21.1 million tonnes of titanium dioxide at an average grade of 9.41%. Vanadium pentoxide reserves stand at 232,584 tonnes at an average grade of 0.102%.

    Total titanium-magnetite ore reserves and resources across the Tymlay deposit and associated intrusive bodies in the ore field are estimated at approximately 1 billion tonnes, placing it in the large deposit category and — by titanium content — in the unique category. The project documentation emphasises that Tymlay surpasses all iron ore deposits on the Kazakhstani state balance in titanium content while having among the lowest sulphur and phosphorus concentrations.

    ForgeX Solutions Ltd is registered in the Astana International Financial Centre. Its founder is listed as Zholbarys Baurzhan in the public registry adata.kz. Geological survey and assessment work is planned for this year to verify historical geological information.

    The Tymlay deposit has a complex history. Previous subsoil user TENIR-LOGISTIC conducted exploration from approximately 2006, with plans involving China Machinery Engineering Corporation and China Metallurgical Group Corporation to build a mining and processing complex worth up to $700 million with annual capacity of 5 million tonnes of ore and 1.85 million tonnes of titanium-magnetite concentrate, as well as a chemical-metallurgical plant in Pavlodar Region for titanium dioxide production. Total project estimates ranged from 782 billion tenge to $2.3 billion. The subsoil contract was terminated in 2023 and the deposit returned to state ownership before the current licensing round.

  • Solidcore CEO Warns Gold Prices Near Peak as Company Plans Oman Expansion, Bakyrchik Underground Transition and Pavlodar Hydromet Launch

    Solidcore CEO Warns Gold Prices Near Peak as Company Plans Oman Expansion, Bakyrchik Underground Transition and Pavlodar Hydromet Launch

    Solidcore Resources chief executive Vitaly Nesis is maintaining a deliberately conservative stance on gold prices at a moment when most market participants are optimistic, telling Forbes Kazakhstan he expects a significant price decline within three years and budgeting accordingly — while simultaneously planning the most ambitious expansion programme in the company’s history.

    “I personally expect a meaningful price decline on a three-year horizon,” Nesis said. “As a company, we are budgeting this year at $4,000 per ounce and conducting long-term mine planning at $3,000. This reflects our corporate views. We are optimists, but we consider the current level excessive.”

    Against that cautious macro backdrop, Solidcore has set three strategic priorities: vertical integration through the launch of the Ertis Hydrometallurgical Plant in Pavlodar, geographic diversification beyond Kazakhstan, and growth of the mineral resource base. The Pavlodar plant is the most critical near-term project, as it addresses what Nesis describes as the company’s fundamental structural defect — dependence on a tolling contract with a Russian enterprise for processing concentrate. Solidcore is gradually reducing this exposure through China and Kazakhmys, but Nesis said the risk will only be eliminated once EGMK is commissioned. “This is a fundamental defect in the current commercial structure. We live with it, but it is finite.”

    On geographic diversification, Nesis identified Oman as the priority market, with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan also under active evaluation. He said the company plans to complete at least one asset acquisition outside Kazakhstan in 2026. Solidcore is 29.7% owned by Omani company Maaden International Investment, making the Middle East connection structurally logical.

    At Bakyrchik — the company’s flagship asset and one of Kazakhstan’s largest gold deposits — underground mine development is the next major transition. Design work is completing this year, with underground development beginning in 2026. Nesis acknowledged that high capital expenditure during underground construction may cause production to dip temporarily in 2028, but the company is targeting significantly higher output by 2035 as the new mine reaches full capacity. The company also has more than 20 exploration projects and 30 kilometres of drilling planned for 2026, with the objective of replacing depleted reserves tonne-for-tonne with new resource additions. In Kazakhstan, the company is also exploring acquisition of additional assets including an increased stake in the Beshoku project, building on last year’s acquisition of a tin stake at Syrymbet.

    On technology, Nesis claimed industry leadership in digitalisation, singling out Bakyrchik’s fleet management system as a fully algorithmised AI solution that dispatches trucks and excavators without human involvement. “This is not visualisation or an advisor. This is artificial intelligence that gives instructions to people. The results are very impressive both in productivity gains and cost reduction.” The system is planned for rollout across new company assets. Processing plants use machine vision and optimisation software for mill loading and flotation management.

    Despite Solidcore shares being the most liquid on the Astana International Exchange, Nesis said he remains unsatisfied with market liquidity and considers the exchange’s potential unrealised. He also addressed the legacy issue of shares blocked in Euroclear following EU sanctions on Russia’s National Settlement Depository in 2022, noting that the company’s subsequent delisting from Moscow and multi-stage AIX share exchange successfully migrated more than 90% of affected shares, though some shareholders were unable to participate due to their own sanctions constraints.

  • Kazakhstan’s GeoCube Platform Turns Decades of Soviet Geological Archives Into AI-Powered Investment Intelligence

    Kazakhstan’s GeoCube Platform Turns Decades of Soviet Geological Archives Into AI-Powered Investment Intelligence

    Kazakhstan’s mining and exploration sector is beginning to unlock one of its most underutilised assets — not a new mineral deposit, but the accumulated knowledge of several generations of Soviet and post-Soviet geologists stored in hundreds of thousands of reports, maps, drilling results and geophysical surveys that have long sat in archives, only partially accessible to investors and exploration companies.

    The GeoCube platform, developed by Terra Exploration with more than 30 years of accumulated expertise in satellite data applications for the oil, gas and mining industries, is designed to address this structural gap. The platform integrates geological data, satellite analytics and artificial intelligence to build digital subsurface models that allow investors and exploration companies to identify prospective targets more rapidly, assess risks more accurately and make data-driven decisions at the early stages of project evaluation — before field teams are deployed.

    Satellite monitoring is one of the platform’s core elements. High-resolution satellite imagery enables the identification of geological structures, terrain analysis, surface change detection and the spotting of early indicators of prospective zones. Combined with archived geological materials and AI algorithms, this approach can significantly accelerate early-stage exploration and reduce its cost — a material advantage in an environment of intensifying global competition for critical mineral resources.

    The developers emphasise that artificial intelligence functions as a tool to amplify the expertise of geologists rather than replace them. The platform works with historical reports, drilling results, geophysical surveys, high-resolution satellite imagery and modern spatial data, with AI identifying patterns and correlations that help direct further exploration work.

    The broader significance of GeoCube reflects a shift in how the mining industry defines competitive advantage. The question is no longer simply “where is the deposit?” — investors also need to assess infrastructure access, transport routes, energy capacity, water availability and market proximity. Digital platforms that integrate geology with economics and logistics represent the next layer of value creation in exploration.

    Kazakhstan’s government has separately been investing in the digitisation of its state geological archive, with over 97% of primary geological information — approximately 250 terabytes — now scanned into a unified system. Platforms like GeoCube that can extract intelligence from this data represent a strategic capability as much as a commercial product.

  • Kazakhstan’s Artisanal Gold Mining Needs Reform to Work — and Could Become a Tourism Draw Too, Industry Expert Says

    Kazakhstan’s Artisanal Gold Mining Needs Reform to Work — and Could Become a Tourism Draw Too, Industry Expert Says

    Kazakhstan’s artisanal gold mining sector, legalised under the 2018 Subsoil Code, is in need of significant regulatory reform if it is to fulfil its original promise of bringing small-scale gold extraction into the legal economy — and the country could simultaneously develop a gold prospecting tourism industry, according to Said Sultanov, founder of Aurora Minerals Group.

    Speaking to inbusiness.kz, Sultanov identified three drivers behind the renewed interest in artisanal mining reform: sustained demand for small-deposit gold extraction that holds no interest for major subsoil users, improved technology that has made alluvial gold recovery more accessible to small entrepreneurs, and record gold prices that have raised the economic attractiveness of the activity.

    The 2018 reforms introduced a first-come, first-served licensing system that was a meaningful step forward, Sultanov said, but practical experience has exposed systemic problems. Licensing procedures remain burdensome, land use coordination and environmental requirements add complexity, and the available licence area of five hectares is too small for efficient operation — the industry is proposing expansion to 15 hectares. Most tellingly, not a single gram of gold has officially been submitted to refining enterprises by artisanal miners since the mechanism was launched. “This indicates the existence of systemic problems in market regulation,” Sultanov said. The legal route, in other words, remains less attractive than informal channels.

    Sultanov was direct about the implication: legalisation created the foundation for reducing illegal extraction but did not solve the problem. “If legal work turns out to be more complicated, more expensive and less profitable than illegal activity, some participants continue to work in the grey zone.”

    On the proposed development of artisanal mining tourism, Sultanov described a potentially viable model combining gold-panning instruction, historical mining site visits, geological excursions and educational programmes for schools and universities. Suitable regions include Akmola, Abai, East Kazakhstan, Karaganda and Pavlodar, all of which have historical gold mining heritage. He cautioned that without licensing of operators, designated sites, environmental requirements and mandatory instructor accompaniment, such tourism could become uncontrolled and environmentally damaging — but argued the risks were manageable with proper regulation. He also highlighted the vocational dimension: exposure to real mineral exploration processes could help address Kazakhstan’s shortage of geologists, mine surveyors, mining engineers and hydrogeologists.

    The reforms Sultanov considers essential are straightforward: reduce the financial burden of closure guarantee requirements, expand available licence areas, simplify licensing procedures and create a transparent official market for selling artisanal gold. Without these changes, the sector risks remaining a niche experiment rather than becoming a genuine contributor to regional economic development and gold market formalisation.

  • Tokayev Offers EU Access to Kazakhstan’s Rare Earths in Exchange for Investment and Technology at Brussels Round Table

    Tokayev Offers EU Access to Kazakhstan’s Rare Earths in Exchange for Investment and Technology at Brussels Round Table

    President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has proposed a new model of cooperation with the European Union in the mining and metallurgical sector, offering access to Kazakhstan’s rare and rare earth metals in exchange for European investment and technology transfer, at the Kazakhstan–EU Round Table in Brussels.

    Tokayev highlighted that Kazakhstan’s subsoil users are already capable of supplying 21 of the 34 minerals on the European Union’s critical raw materials list, while significant untapped reserves of lithium, nickel, vanadium and cobalt remain undeveloped. He said the most effective mechanism for unlocking this resource potential would be offtake-based cooperation — arrangements under which buyers guarantee the purchase of a defined volume of future production — as this model would stimulate the development of rare metal ore processing and the production of higher value-added products.

    Kazakhstan also renewed its proposal to establish a Regional Research Centre on Rare Earth Metals in Astana. The centre would provide prospective investors with current information about available deposits across Central Asia and the technologies available for their development.

    The round table underscored Kazakhstan’s role as one of the EU’s key energy partners, with Kazakhstani crude oil’s share of the EU market growing to 13% in 2025. The event concluded with the signing of new commercial agreements with a combined value of nearly $1 billion.

  • China Deepens Central Asia Engagement Across Nuclear, Mining and Trade as Kazakhstan Approves Civil Nuclear Cooperation Protocol

    China Deepens Central Asia Engagement Across Nuclear, Mining and Trade as Kazakhstan Approves Civil Nuclear Cooperation Protocol

    China’s National Energy Administration chief Wang Hongzhi visited Kazakhstan to attend the inaugural meeting of the Kazakhstan-China Joint Working Group on Cooperation in Civil Nuclear Energy, with participants approving a protocol defining the framework for future nuclear cooperation. The development follows Kazakhstan’s selection of China’s National Nuclear Corporation to build two large-scale reactors, while Russia’s Rosatom has separately been contracted to build Kazakhstan’s first nuclear plant on the shores of Lake Balkhash.

    The nuclear meeting was one of several significant developments across the region reflecting China’s intensifying economic and institutional engagement with Central Asia.

    In Kazakhstan, Chinese electrical appliance manufacturer Midea Group opened a representative office in Almaty, establishing a local operations team, warehouse complex and logistics hub to serve Central Asian markets directly rather than through third-party distributors. The China-Kazakhstan Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum in Astana saw the launch of the Jiangsu Province Center for Central Asia — a unified service hub for Chinese companies — alongside agreements to increase Kazakhstani wheat, meat and honey exports to Jiangsu Province.

    In Kyrgyzstan, China’s Nerin Engineering was selected as chief contractor for development of the Togolok gold deposit, including construction of a processing plant and tailings facility, under the Kumtor Gold Company. The Kyrgyz National Investment Fund and Shenzhen Wuyou Technology also signed agreements to introduce electric scooters and charging infrastructure.

    In Uzbekistan, Chinese company Zhongjin Guantai Industrial Development expressed intent to invest $2 billion in the mining sector, $1 billion in energy projects and $300 to $500 million in infrastructure and tourism. Uzbekistan’s state uranium producer Navoiyuran and China’s State Nuclear Uranium Resources Development agreed to establish a joint working group covering geological exploration and unconventional uranium deposit development. Uzeltekhsanoat Association and China’s Electronics Enterprises Association signed a memorandum on home appliance component production and Physical AI technologies, while separate Chinese agreements covered sustainable forestry, water-saving irrigation and agricultural investment.

    In Tajikistan, Dangara State University signed an agreement to establish a Confucius Institute on campus. In Turkmenistan, China’s ambassador held discussions with parliamentarians about organising Chinese-led legislative seminars for MPs from across Central Asia.

  • Kazakhstan Signs KU Leuven and Ghent University Research Partnerships During Tokayev’s Belgium Visit, Advancing Horizon Europe Integration Push

    Kazakhstan Signs KU Leuven and Ghent University Research Partnerships During Tokayev’s Belgium Visit, Advancing Horizon Europe Integration Push

    Kazakhstan has signed a package of strategic agreements with leading Belgian universities and European innovation bodies during President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s official visit to Belgium, establishing new research partnerships in critical materials, sustainable metallurgy, artificial intelligence and computational engineering.

    The most significant agreement brings together D. Serikbayev East Kazakhstan Technical University, KU Leuven and the SIM² KU Leuven Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals, along with Astana Hub. The partnership will enable Kazakhstani students, researchers and PhD candidates to collaborate with European scientists on critical materials science, sustainable metallurgy, industrial digitalisation and AI applications in manufacturing — a combination directly relevant to Kazakhstan’s strategic goal of developing value-added industries around its substantial critical raw material reserves rather than remaining a raw material exporter.

    A separate agreement with Ghent University will establish a mirror research laboratory in Kazakhstan focused on mathematics, artificial intelligence, mathematical modelling and computational engineering. Based at the Alem.ai Foundation in Astana, the laboratory will support joint research, academic exchanges, scientific publications and international collaboration.

    Meetings with the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and the European Innovation Council also covered Kazakhstan’s further integration into Horizon Europe — the EU’s €93.5 billion flagship research and innovation programme — advancing the case that Science Minister Sayasat Nurbek has been making publicly for Kazakhstan to be treated as a research partner rather than simply a mineral supplier.

    The agreements mark a concrete step in Kazakhstan’s broader effort to position itself as a trusted international partner in research, innovation and artificial intelligence, building institutional connections with European science alongside the diplomatic and commercial relationships being advanced through critical minerals dialogues.

  • AMM 2026 Elevates Kazakhstan’s Strategic Role in Critical Minerals as EU Dialogue and C5+1 Summit Drive Investment and Supply Chain Partnerships

    AMM 2026 Elevates Kazakhstan’s Strategic Role in Critical Minerals as EU Dialogue and C5+1 Summit Drive Investment and Supply Chain Partnerships

    A series of high-level diplomatic and business meetings held on the sidelines of the Astana Mining and Metallurgy Congress 2026 reinforced Kazakhstan’s positioning as a central node in global critical minerals supply chains, bringing together the European Union, the United States and Central Asian partners in consecutive days of structured dialogue.

    On 11 June, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov chaired the 19th Kazakhstan–European Union Dialogue Platform, attended by heads of European diplomatic missions, leading business associations and international companies. The meeting addressed the investment climate, trade and industrial cooperation, harmonisation of technical standards and collaboration in geological exploration and critical raw materials. Bektenov noted that the EU remains Kazakhstan’s largest trade and investment partner, accounting for more than 30% of the country’s foreign trade, with cumulative European investment exceeding $200 billion. Particular attention was paid to critical minerals cooperation and the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route as a strategic logistics corridor linking Central Asia to European markets.

    Said Sultanov, Managing Director of Xcalibur Smart Mapping Kazakhstan, presented initiatives covering modern geoscience technologies, geological infrastructure modernisation and high-precision airborne geophysical surveys aimed at unlocking Kazakhstan’s mineral potential.

    The day before, on 10 June, the C5+1 Critical Minerals Dialogue brought together the United States and all five Central Asian states. David Fogel, US Assistant Secretary of Commerce, highlighted Kazakhstan’s significant resource potential and its importance in building secure and diversified critical mineral supply chains — reaffirming that critical minerals remain a strategic priority for the Trump administration’s engagement with the region.

    Speaking on the sidelines, Said Sultanov of Aurora Minerals Group said Kazakhstan was attracting growing international interest from major mining investors across multiple geographies. “Russian, European, and Chinese companies are already actively involved in exploration projects across Kazakhstan. The arrival of US companies will further strengthen competitiveness in the sector and create new opportunities for investment, technology transfer, and industry development,” he said.