Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov held a meeting on the development of the industry of rare and rare earth metals in fulfilment of the instruction of the Head of State, voiced in the Address "Economic Course of Fair Kazakhstan", primeminister.kz reports.
The development of the industry will strengthen Kazakhstan's position in the world market, attract technology and capital, as well as expand participation in the supply chain in new sectors of the economy.
The Minister of Industry and Construction, Kanat Sharlapayev, reported on the current state and measures being taken, and reports were also made by the heads of NAC Kazatomprom JSC, NGK Tau-Ken Samruk JSC, and the RSE National Centre for Technological Forecasting.
Kazakhstan is home to one of the world's three full-cycle plants for the production of beryllium, scandium, one of the world's four tantalum and niobium production facilities. According to the Ministry of Industry and Construction, the country's metallurgical plants extract bismuth, antimony, selenium and telluride, and there is a technology to produce gallium from alumina and indium from polymetallic raw materials. In November this year, production of tungsten concentrate was launched at Boguty deposit in Almaty region with capacity of up to 3.3 million tonnes. The total investment in the project amounted to $350 million.
Head of the Government was also reported on the work on promising projects in the development of tungsten ores and deepening of processing of raw materials to ammonium paravolphramate, creation of a cluster for the production of magnets.
Attention was paid to the development of sectors for the production of battery materials, permanent magnets, recycling and production of heat-resistant alloys. Projects are being implemented to mine and process the necessary metals. For example, at one of the world's largest deposits Sarytogan, it is planned to produce graphite concentrate with upgrading to finished products. Since 2024, Kazakhstan has been producing manganese sulphate monohydrate, which covers 5% of the global market. Projects are also being implemented to develop lithium deposits by German company Bergbau AG, and the Korean institute KIGAM is conducting geological and geophysical studies of lithium in the East Kazakhstan region. At the same time, it is planned to set up production of heat-resistant nickel alloys, which make up to 50 per cent of the cost of jet aircraft engines, based on rhenium, tantalum, tungsten, nickel and cobalt. As of today, the country has set up processing of scrap blades of aircraft engines.
Olzhas Bektenov noted the potential of Kazakh companies to conduct geological exploration, including feasibility studies, to further attract investment. This approach will expand Kazakhstan's share in the world production of rare and rare earth metals. Prime Minister emphasised that the Government will support domestic research institutes and manufacturers.
Development of the industry of rare and rare earth metals requires the active participation of domestic financial institutions. The Ministry of Industry and Construction together with the holding company "Baiterek" has been instructed to develop a model for the creation of a cluster with a full cycle of production chain - from mining of raw materials to the production of products of deep processing. The Ministry of Industry and Construction was instructed to work out the issue of creating a laboratory with international accreditation.
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