Kazakhstan has signed offers with the European Union and Britain on the provision of essential minerals.
“Folks know that Kazakhstan could be very dependable… We’ve been supplying markets for a really very long time,” trade minister Kanat Sharlapayev stated in an interview this week.
The Central Asian nation, the world’s ninth-largest by land space however sparsely populated, has deposits of 90% of the weather of the periodic desk and is already a big exporter of ferroalloys, gold, and copper.
The nation desires to realize market share in battery supplies similar to lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel and graphite amid rising demand for the supplies, Sharlapayev stated.
Kazakhstan already mines manganese, however final yr it launched processing of manganese sulphate and goals to ultimately seize 10% of the worldwide marketplace for the battery materials.
It additionally provides phosphates for fertilisers and goals to course of materials wanted for LFP (lithium ferro phosphate) batteries which might be rising in recognition, he added.
“Constructing scalable processing of battery grade metals is one thing we wish to develop,” stated Sharlapayev, a former banker with Citigroup.
“We have already got manufacturing amenities, it’s only a matter of increasing the vary of these supplies.”
Russian menace
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated this week that Moscow ought to take into account limiting exports of uranium, titanium, nickel, and doubtlessly different commodities in retaliation for Western sanctions.
Kazakhstan is a significant international provider of each uranium and titanium. It additionally holds 2% of world nickel reserves, however has, for now, a negligible share in its international output.
The nation has additionally but to faucet its deposits of lithium, one other key metallic, however exploration is underway.
To hurry up exploration and growth, the cupboard streamlined the procedures for exploration licences and moved them on-line, he stated.
This has hiked the variety of issued licences thus far this yr to 487 in comparison with 397 for all of 2023, based on information from the ministry.
Main mining corporations concerned in exploration in Kazakhstan embody BHP, Rio Tinto, First Quantum Minerals, Fortescue and Teck Assets.
The European Financial institution for Reconstruction and Growth (EBRD) stated final month it had purchased a stake in a agency exploring for graphite in Kazakhstan.
Though Kazakhstan is a member of Russian-led financial and safety blocs, it has maintained neutrality within the Russia-Ukraine battle, promised to abide by Western sanctions towards Moscow, and actively participates within the growth of cargo transit routes bypassing Russia.
(Reporting by Eric Onstad and Olzhas Auyezov; modifying by Philippa Fletcher)