Kazakhstan: facilitation of investment in mining industry

Almat Daumov – Partner, GRATA International

In his presentation, Almat Daumov provided an overview of how Kazakhstan government’s policies and plans for attracting foreign investment in the country’s mining.

A few years ago, Kazakhstan has switched to the so-called “Australian model” of conducting, subsoil use activity.

Since 2019 Kazakhstan already granted almost 2000 exploration licences and 51 mining licences. And that’s despite the pandemic which has brought a lot of restrictions to the country. And this shows how fast Kazakhstan is releasing new territories for foreign and local investors. The Government is planning to action soon mineral deposits with industrial-size resources.

Currently, territories available for exploration and mining can be viewed online by using an interactive map. The Government is working on digitalising the process of licence application.

There is also believed to be a large set of exploration data on what was missed during Soviet exploration which wasn’t available to foreign investors in the past due to certain legal restrictions which is going to be made public next year.

Concluding, Almat said that it is believed, that the mining sector will be one of the top five Government priorities in the upcoming years.