Kazakhstan's National Mining Company Advances 100,000-Square-Kilometer Geological Survey

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 8, the Kazakh government announced the latest mineral exploration results of the national mining company Tau-Ken Samruk. Over the past year, the company obtained 3 exploration licenses, launched exploration for gold, copper, and rare earth minerals, and has confirmed more than 8 tonnes of gold resources and 150,000 tonnes of copper resources. Among these, the average copper grade of the Karatas copper project increased from 0.35% to 0.46%, and process sample collection is currently underway.

The Karatas project is located in the Karaganda Region of Kazakhstan and is being advanced by Tau-Ken Samruk. After completing the current process sample collection, the project plans to continue hydrogeological and geotechnical studies to provide data for subsequent resource evaluation and development plan preparation.

Under the exploration project implementation mechanism established by the Kazakh government, Tau-Ken Samruk is responsible for obtaining exploration licenses, organizing geological exploration, and registering confirmed reserves in the national reserve balance sheet. Foreign partners will participate in development after the project reaches a relatively high level of readiness. The government has required the company to apply the work experience from the Karatas project to Zhosabai and other exploration areas.

Kazakhstan's Kazgeology company is currently conducting drilling, ground geophysical surveys, and airborne geophysical surveys in 7 regions across the country, covering an operational area of 55,000 square kilometers. During the same period, the state has launched detailed geological surveys at a scale of 1:50,000 in 20 key areas, with a planned total area of 100,000 square kilometers.

In terms of geological data processing, Tau-Ken Samruk has carried out artificial intelligence-based core analysis. The relevant system was trained using geological data from the Zhosabai deposit, and its current recognition accuracy has reached 80%, with plans to increase it to 95% by the end of 2026. This technology has already produced preliminary analysis results.

The Kazakh government also announced that national funding investment in the geological exploration sector over the next three years is planned at approximately USD 500 million, and required relevant departments to prioritize exploration in areas with potential for critical minerals, digitization of geological data, and investor attraction.