The 14th Mining and Geological Forum MINEX Kazakhstan opened today in Astana. Its central theme is “Sustainable Development of the Mining Industry for the Benefit of the Society and Environment”.
The program declared about 120 speakers, including representatives of government agencies, international organizations, domestic and foreign mining companies, institutional and private investors, technology and consulting companies, financial sector, industry associations, etc.
Bakyt Chirchikbayev, the CEO of the National Mining Company Tau-Ken Samruk, spoke at the plenary session “Drivers of the Development of the Mining and Metallurgical Industry in Kazakhstan”.
He spoke about priority projects and plans for further development of the company in the context of transferring 100% of shares of Kazgeology JSC to Tau-Ken Samruk, in particular, drew attention to a number of advantages that partners can receive: “The integration of Kazgeology into the structure of Tau-Ken Samruk will expand the potential perimeter of cooperation with existing and future partners, since Tau-Ken Samruk specializes not only in exploration, but also in the further development of projects, including the construction and production stages”.
Bakyt Chirchikbayev also stressed that exploration projects remain a priority: “We plan to continue implementing existing projects with partners and simultaneously study all available historical and modern geological information to search for promising sites. Our geologists have already made significant progress in this direction”.
Aspects of international cooperation in geological exploration, mining, processing and creation of supply chains for uranium and materials critical for “green” energy technologies were discussed at a separate session of the MINEX Kazakhstan forum.
Nariman Absametov, the Chief Business Development Officer of the National Mining Company spoke about the main areas in which Tau-Ken Samruk is working today in terms of critical minerals.
Firstly, work continues to create a cost-effective technology for enriching ore from the largest domestic tungsten deposit, Verkhnee Kairaktinskoye. A study of the prospects for using heap leaching has begun; this year large-scale laboratory studies will take place; in case of a positive result, the next stage will be pilot technological tests.
In parallel, the National Mining Company is exploring the issue of exploration of rare and rare earth metals at the Akbulak site in the Kostanay region. In the near future, it is planned to begin geological exploration together with the American company Cove Capital, and a corresponding agreement has been signed.