MINEX Forum

Tag: Chinese mining investment

  • Chinese-Linked ALTYN GEO RESOURCE Launches Alluvial Gold Exploration Across Three East Kazakhstan Licence Areas

    Chinese-Linked ALTYN GEO RESOURCE Launches Alluvial Gold Exploration Across Three East Kazakhstan Licence Areas

    Kazakhstan-registered exploration company ALTYN GEO RESOURCE has announced plans to begin geological exploration at the Taldy alluvial gold prospect in the Samarsky District of East Kazakhstan Region, the latest in a series of licence areas the company is advancing simultaneously across the region.

    The Taldy licence area covers 15.8 square kilometres across seven blocks, located approximately 45 kilometres northwest of the city of Altai. The company received its solid minerals exploration licence from the Ministry of Industry and Construction on 30 December 2025. The programme is designed to evaluate alluvial gold prospectivity and calculate reserves to KazRC standards, with the primary objectives of delineating the productive layer, determining overburden and sand thicknesses, and assessing gold grades and processing characteristics.

    Exploration will use percussion cable drilling on a grid of 200 to 400 metres between lines and 20 to 40 metres between holes, with approximately 100 boreholes planned across a total of 3,000 linear metres at an average depth of 30 metres. UAV aerial photography will provide detailed topographic mapping at scales of 1:2,000 to 1:5,000. An estimated 257.9 tonnes of samples will be collected. Field operations will be conducted on a rotational basis with teams of 16 specialists working 15-day shifts. The programme is scheduled to run from the first quarter of 2026 through to the fourth quarter of 2031, with the final phase producing a geological report and KazRC-compliant reserve calculation.

    The Taldy area is characterised by gold mineralisation associated with fracture, shear and silicification zones in terrigenous rocks, with arsenopyrite serving as an indicator of the highest concentrations of fine-grained gold.

    ALTYN GEO RESOURCE is simultaneously advancing two further alluvial gold exploration programmes. In Abai Region’s Zharminsk District, a 20.26 square kilometre licence area called Nizhny Agynykatti is targeted for work commencing in the fourth quarter of 2026 through to end-2031. In East Kazakhstan’s Ulansky District, the Taldybulak licence area of 11.23 square kilometres is similarly scheduled for the same period, with the company noting that gold content in the Taldybulak river valley is irregular in distribution.

    The company’s co-owners are listed as Xingwang Engineering Kazakhstan Co. Ltd and Inzhu Caspian Gold LLP. The ownership of Xingwang Engineering Kazakhstan is not publicly disclosed, though its director is identified as Liu Xiangju.

  • Zijin Gold Nets $120 Million Profit in First Three Months at Kazakhstan’s Raygorodok Mine and Eyes Tripling Output to 11 Tonnes Annually

    Zijin Gold Nets $120 Million Profit in First Three Months at Kazakhstan’s Raygorodok Mine and Eyes Tripling Output to 11 Tonnes Annually

    Chinese mining giant Zijin Gold International has reported that its newly acquired Raygorodok gold mine in Kazakhstan’s Akmola Region generated approximately $190 million in revenue and $120 million in net profit in the final quarter of 2025 alone — recouping roughly a tenth of the approximately $1 billion acquisition price within just three months of completing the purchase.

    The mine, acquired from Kazakh businessman Bulat Utemuratov and formally transferred in October 2025, produced 1.2 tonnes of gold under Zijin’s ownership last year, though the company reported selling 1.3 tonnes from the Kazakhstani operation during the same period. Total gold output at Raygorodok for the full year 2025 reached 6.5 tonnes in doré form — including 6.1 tonnes from the main processing plant and 349 kilograms from heap leaching operations — meaning approximately 5.3 tonnes were attributable to the previous shareholder before the deal closed.

    Zijin reported all-in sustaining costs of approximately $1,249 per ounce following the acquisition, and said the post-acquisition transition had proceeded smoothly, with improvements in strip ratios, recovery rates and equipment utilisation. The results were aided by the record gold price rally that marked the final months of 2025.

    The company’s most significant disclosure concerns its expansion ambitions. Zijin plans to increase annual ore processing capacity from the current 6 million tonnes to 16 million tonnes, with an intermediate target of adding 10 million tonnes of annual processing capacity in the near term. That expansion is projected to lift annual gold production to approximately 11 tonnes — a level that would place Raygorodok close to the output of Kazakhstan’s leading gold producers, including Kazakhzinc, Altynalmas and Solidcore Resources, each of which produces more than 12 tonnes annually. Production guidance for 2026 is set at 6.4 tonnes. The mine’s remaining life is estimated at 16 years, with probable reserves of 84 tonnes of gold and measured and inferred resources potentially reaching 195 tonnes.

    Beyond expanding existing operations, Zijin plans to invest in exploration across six licences it holds in the surrounding area. The company intends to conduct deep and peripheral drilling within the current mining zone to extend the mine’s operational life, and will carry out exploration at the Novodneprovske and Sharyk deposits within recently acquired licence areas to assess their boundaries and resource potential.

  • Chinese Mining Firm Jinxin Secures Kazakhstan Gold Deposit Near Chinese Border After Auction Winner Defaults on Payment

    Chinese Mining Firm Jinxin Secures Kazakhstan Gold Deposit Near Chinese Border After Auction Winner Defaults on Payment

    Chinese company Jinxin Mining has been awarded the rights to develop the Ketmen alluvial gold deposit in Kazakhstan’s Almaty Region, after the original auction winner apparently failed to complete payment — handing the licence to the Chinese firm in circumstances that have drawn public scrutiny.

    The deposit, also known as Predgorny Ketmen, is located close to the Chinese border in the Uygur and Raimbeksky districts of Almaty Region, near the Ketmen and Shalkudysu rivers. Total forecast alluvial gold resources at the site were estimated in 2015 at 7.1 tonnes. According to earlier reporting from 2018, the deposit remained underexplored at that time, with its reserves not fully calculated, a gold-bearing placer extending 15 to 16 kilometres in length, and gold content ranging between 400 and 1,200 milligrams per cubic metre.

    The Ministry of Industry put the deposit up for auction in 2024. According to auction records, the winning bid was submitted by Kazakh firm Korgold at 600 million tenge, with Jinxin Mining placing second at 546 million tenge — just over $1 million. It appears Korgold was subsequently unable to meet its full payment obligation, and the subsoil use rights were transferred to Jinxin Mining, which confirmed its auction commitment. The company received formal notification of its winning status from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry in November 2024.

    Jinxin Mining’s founders are listed as Liu Yanling, Chen Haiyan and the limited liability company Jinxin Mining 1, the beneficial owner of which is Tursunbek Omurzakov, a former member of parliament representing the Communist People’s Party.

    A publicly released site closure and remediation plan filed by the company provides detailed technical parameters for the operation. Mining will be conducted using open-pit methods within the riverbed and terraces of the Ketmen River, using excavator and bulldozer equipment. The quarry will cover an area of 2.2 hectares, extend approximately 1,100 metres along its axis, and reach a depth of up to 8 metres. The average gold grade at the deposit is stated at 0.27 grams per tonne. The document specifies that no long-term conservation of mining infrastructure is planned; upon completion, all structures will be dismantled and the land progressively rehabilitated, with terrain restoration and biological remediation carried out in stages as individual blocks are worked out.

    The deposit had previously been subject to exploration rights held by Tau Ketmen LLP, a company linked to the state mining holding Tau-Ken Samruk.