MINEX Forum

Tag: CoreX Holding

  • Qazgeology Retains Mailyshat Gold JV With CoreX as Four Failed Exploration Ventures Close and Return Licences to State

    Qazgeology Retains Mailyshat Gold JV With CoreX as Four Failed Exploration Ventures Close and Return Licences to State

    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.

  • CoreX Holding Plans to Double Manka Gold Resources to 400,000 Ounces and Begin Mining in East Kazakhstan in 2026

    CoreX Holding Plans to Double Manka Gold Resources to 400,000 Ounces and Begin Mining in East Kazakhstan in 2026

    Turkish-Dutch mining group CoreX Holding is targeting a significant expansion of the resource base at its Manka gold deposit in East Kazakhstan, with plans to more than double confirmed resources from 195,000 ounces to over 400,000 ounces through a second phase of exploration drilling, while beginning underground mining operations this year.

    According to the company’s 2025 annual report, CoreX completed a comprehensive underground drilling programme at Manka including 10 additional holes totalling 2,000 metres in 2025, bringing the total drilling since acquiring exploration rights to approximately 5,000 metres. The programme identified approximately 340,000 ounces of potential resources, with 195,000 ounces confirmed through adit clearance and reserve definition in the first exploration phase. A second phase planned for 2026 will include 6,000 additional metres of drilling, expected to push total project resources beyond 400,000 ounces.

    Mining is scheduled to begin in 2026 using underground methods including sublevel stoping and cut-and-fill mining, with production planned to continue for nine years. Annual output is targeted at up to 187,000 ounces of gold — a significant scale for a single underground operation.

    The Manka deposit has a century-long history, having been discovered in 1925. Soviet-era mining between its discovery and 1954 extracted 300,000 tonnes of ore at an average grade of 12.24 grams per tonne, yielding 3.6 tonnes of gold. The deposit is located in a geographically sensitive border area near the intersection of Russia, Mongolia and China.

    CoreX Holding’s Kazakhstan portfolio also includes the Voskhod Chrome operation in Aktobe Region, Altay Polymetals in Karaganda Region and the planned Qazaq Soda ash plant in Taraz.

  • CoreX Holding Winds Down Four Kazakhstan Joint Ventures With Qazgeology as Voskhod Chrome Mine Approaches Contract End

    CoreX Holding Winds Down Four Kazakhstan Joint Ventures With Qazgeology as Voskhod Chrome Mine Approaches Contract End

    Turkish-Dutch conglomerate CoreX Holding, formerly known in Kazakhstan as Yildirim Holding, is closing four joint ventures with Qazgeology — a subsidiary of the state mining holding Tau-Ken Samruk — that had been carrying out exploration activities across several regions and mineral types, a senior company official has confirmed.

    Speaking on the sidelines of the 4th Mining Congress in Astana, CoreX Holding’s deputy director general for administrative management in Kazakhstan, Anvar Boranbayev, said the company had operated five joint ventures with Qazgeology under exploration licences. Four of these are now being wound down.

    The company’s production contract at the Voskhod chromite mine near Khromtau in Aktobe Region — operated through its Voskhod-Oriel enterprise — runs until 2029, by which point the deposit’s reserves and output have been declining in recent years. CoreX is conducting geological exploration in the Khromtau district in an effort to replenish its mineral resource base before the contract expires.

    The company also holds an evaluated licence area called Udar on the Kempirsa plateau near the settlement of Badamsha in Aktobe Region, operated through its Sunrise Mining subsidiary. Boranbayev said a production permit application has been submitted to the Ministry of Industry and is awaiting approval, with the company expecting to proceed once public and environmental review requirements for its mining plan have been satisfied. If reserves of approximately 500,000 tonnes of refined chrome are exploited at a rational rate, production at Udar could last four to five years.

    CoreX, as the former Yildirim group, has previously faced questions over chrome raw material supplies to Russia — including to its own Tikhvin ferroalloy plant and the Novotroitsk chromium compounds plant — in the context of sanctions. In Kazakhstan, the company supplies the Aktobe Chromium Compounds Plant. A separate project, the Qazaq Soda calcined soda plant in Zhambyl Region, has experienced delays due to permitting documentation requirements but is now advancing with adjusted implementation plans.