Unlocking investment in critical minerals in Kazakhstan

Caroline Peachey

Tue, Apr 29, 2025, 2:45 AM 7 min read

Kazakhstan hosts substantial reserves of critical minerals including rare earth elements (REEs), copper, lithium, tungsten, tantalum as well as other materials essential for modern technologies and the energy transition.

Recognising the strategic importance of these resources, the Kazakh Government has introduced efforts to attract foreign investment and technological expertise to develop its critical minerals sector.

Speaking during a presentation at last month’s PDAC convention in Toronto, Canada, Gabidulla Ospankulov, Chairman of the Investment Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, said the country “remains open for business and international partnerships,” highlighting efforts by the Kazakh Government to attract foreign investment.

“Our government support packages include exemptions from corporate income tax, value added tax and custom duties, legislative stability [and] courses in investment contracts and agreements,” stated Ospankulov.

Pini Althaus, CEO of Cove Capital, a company actively engaged in exploring and developing critical minerals in Kazakhstan through its subsidiary Kaz Critical Minerals, also points to recent mining code reforms, streamlining of exploration licensing processes and the issuance of “numerous new licences to encourage exploration and development” as spurring investment in the central-Asian nation’s mining industry.

Yet despite these positive steps, Kazakhstan faces several challenges as it looks to grow its minerals and metals sector.

The world’s ninth-largest country, Kazakhstan ranks sixth globally in terms of mineral reserves with some 5,000 deposits, according to government figures.

Kazakhstan already produces 17 of the commodities on the US critical minerals list and 19 of the 30 materials on the EU's list of critical raw materials, Kanat Sharlapaev, Minister of Industry and Construction told Mining Technology in February. Since the interview, Sharlapaev has been reappointed to serve as Assistant to the President of Kazakhstan on Economic Affairs.

Notably, Kazakhstan was the world’s top uranium producer in 2024, accounting for 38% of the global supply, according to figures from GlobalData. In 2023, the country was also the world’s eighth-largest copper producer with an output of 828,500 tonnes (t), and the eight-largest zinc producer globally. Kazakhstan also accounted for around 17% of titanium sponge production in 2024, according to the US Geological Survey.

It is the combination of resources in the ground and the nation’s processing prowess that sets Kazakhstan apart from many other mineral-endowed nations.