Tarutinskoye Plans to Commence Mining at East Tarutin Copper Mine in 2028, with Annual Output up to 500,000 Tonnes

en.Wedoany.com Reported - In September, Tarutinskoye is advancing the development of the East Tarutin copper-gold deposit in Kostanay Region. The project's latest environmental impact report and mining plan have entered the public hearing process, with the hearing scheduled for September 7. Located in the Karabalyk District near the Kazakhstan-Russia border, the project plans to develop the southern and northern ore blocks through open-pit mining, with the northern block further divided into two open pits, "North 1" and "North 2." At present, the mine has not yet commenced development, with formal mining operations scheduled to begin in 2028.

The mining plan sets a five-year production cycle from 2028 to 2032. The mine's maximum ore production capacity is 500,000 tonnes per year, with first-year output planned at 164,000 tonnes, followed by 500,000 tonnes per year from 2029 to 2032. Over the entire cycle, the plan calls for mining 2.164 million tonnes of ore, approximately 942,100 cubic meters. The project plans to adopt an open-pit mining process involving drill-and-blast loosening, excavator loading, and truck haulage, with the three pits—Southern, North 1, and North 2—covering a total area of approximately 24.16 hectares.

The latest mining documents indicate that the East Tarutin deposit has approximately 2.0285 million tonnes of geological balance ore reserves included in the design, containing approximately 22,100 tonnes of copper metal at an average copper grade of 1.09%; approximately 5.6 tonnes of silver at an average grade of 2.76 grams per tonne. The ore also contains approximately 227,000 tonnes of gold-bearing ore, with contained gold of approximately 88.5 kilograms at an average gold grade of 0.39 grams per tonne. The mine design also accounts for a 4.1% mining loss rate and a 10.1% dilution rate.

Before the project enters the mining phase, several infrastructure facilities must still be completed. Currently, production infrastructure at the mine site, including transport facilities, has not yet been established. Tarutinskoye will need to complete land procedures, engineering surveys, and design approvals for construction projects, as well as build evaporation ponds, an access road, and a dedicated spur line to Boskól railway station. The mining plan lists external infrastructure investment of approximately 2.436 billion tenge, including approximately 796 million tenge for the railway spur line and approximately 1.64 billion tenge for the access road; internal infrastructure investment is approximately 1.291 billion tenge.

East Tarutin belongs to the Tarutin mineralized system that spans the Kazakhstan-Russia border. The two countries have previously established intergovernmental arrangements for cross-border deposit operations, with Tarutinskoye being the authorized subsurface user on the Kazakhstani side. Only after the completion of this environmental impact public hearing and subsequent infrastructure, land, and engineering design procedures will the project be qualified to proceed into the planned 2028 mining phase.