Kazakhstan bolsters its standing in the worldwide market of scarce earth elements.
Stepping Up as a Global Leader in Rare Metals:
Kazakhstan continues to cement its presence in the world's rare and rare-earth metals market, thanks to its extensive mineral resource development and enticing investment conditions for processing and cutting-edge product creation.
The nation boasts over 100 discovered deposits of these precious elements, including Kurumsak, Balakh-Sauskandyk, Akbulak, Kundibay, and Verkhnee-Espe, and more. These treasures are packed with essential elements for the European Union's economy, such as beryllium, tantalum, niobium, and rhenium, all highly demanded in electronics, defense, energy, and telecommunications.
The country's mineral riches encompass:
• Substantial tungsten (2.4 million tons) and molybdenum (1 million tons) reserves• Significant lithium (226,900 tons) reserves• Noteworthy tantalum (4,600 tons), niobium (27,200 tons), and beryllium (117,500 tons) reserves
Scattered elements like selenium, tellurium, germanium, gallium, and scandium, crucial in complex mineral resource processing, also hold great value.
Kazakhstan is dedictaed to deepening the processing of rare-earth metals (REMs) and precious metals (REMs) in-country, developing new production facilities, and ensuring export-competitive, advanced products. The government actively welcomes international partners, offering investment and technology in exchange for raw materials.
With projected fourfold growth in global demand for critical materials by 2040, Kazakhstan is bolstering its reputation as a dependable and steady supplier of strategic raw materials for the world's high-tech industries.
Insightful Facts- Kazakhstan is on track to become the world's second or third-largest rare-earth depository after China and Brazil, with estimates reaching approximately 935,000 tons in the Karagandy region[1][3][4].- Over the past five years, the country has attracted about $1 billion in private investment to boost exploration and development[3][4].- The government is planning to extend exploration activities across an additional 680,000 square kilometers by 2026, aiming to uncover further mineral wealth and support future mining development[4].- Kazakhstan's discovered rare-earth deposits comprise almost 17 rare-earth components, including lanthanides, tellurides, neodymium, lithium, and more[3][5].- The country produces 19 out of the 34 rare-earth elements considered crucial for the EU economy, including beryllium, tantalum, niobium, and rhenium[5].
Critical Rare-Earth Elements in Kazakhstan- Lanthanides: A family of elements including lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, and more, valuable for a wide array of high-tech and green technologies.- Neodymium: Essential for high-strength magnets in electric vehicles and wind turbines.- Lithium: Crucial for rechargeable batteries.- Tellurides: Useful in certain types of semiconductor and solar panel technologies.- Beryllium, Tantalum, Niobium, Rhenium: Indispensable for specialized industrial and technological applications[3][5].
- Kazakhstan's rich environmental-science field, particularly in the area of rare metals, is attracting significant interest from the global science, industry, technology, and finance sectors, as the nation holds the potential to become a major global supplier of rare-earth metals like lanthanides, neodymium, lithium, tellurides, beryllium, tantalum, niobium, and rhenium.
- This strategic position, boosted by substantial reserves of precious elements like tungsten, molybdenum, and lithium, offers various opportunities for joint ventures and business collaborations in the energy sector, as these elements are essential for the production of advanced products in the telecommunications, electronics, defense, and energy industries.
- The government of Kazakhstan is not only focusing on the exploration and extraction of these valuable resources but also on the development of sustainable and modern processing technologies for investing in energy-efficient projects, thereby minimizing environmental impacts.
- With a growing demand in the global market for critical rare-earth elements and increasing investment in the sector, Kazakhstan's focused efforts in the area of rare-earth science and technology are poised to significantly contribute to the world’s environmental-science, finance, industry, energy, and technology sectors.
