11 June 2026, 13:05
Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov took part in the 16th International Mining and Metallurgy Congress Astana Mining & Metallurgy – AMM 2026. The congress was attended by more than 1,500 delegates from 16 countries, including Belgium, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Canada, China, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the USA, France, Sweden, and South Korea. This industry platform annually brings together representatives of state bodies, business, the expert community, and international organizations to discuss prospects for the development of the mining and metallurgical complex.
The broad international representation at the forum confirms the growing interest in the development of Kazakhstan’s mining and metallurgical complex.
In his speech at the plenary session of the congress, the Prime Minister noted that Kazakhstan’s economic growth in 2025 amounted to 6.5%. The gross domestic product volume exceeded $300 billion for the first time. This result reflects the course of the Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev towards building a modern economy based on technology, investment, industrial development, and human capital.
“The new Constitution of our country enshrines the institutional foundations of this course. It strengthens guarantees for the protection of property and investments, reinforces the principles of the rule of law, and forms a solid foundation for the country’s long-term economic development. For the further development of the mining and metallurgical complex, this is of particular importance. The implementation of large-scale projects in subsoil use, metallurgy, and deep processing requires significant investments and long investment cycles. Therefore, the stability of institutions, predictability of regulation, and trust from business become the most important conditions for the development of the industry,” Olzhas Bektenov emphasized.
Special attention is paid to geological exploration, on which the discovery of new deposits, expansion of the mineral resource base, and formation of a portfolio of future investment projects directly depend.
As part of the instructions of the Head of State on the development of the geological industry and strengthening the country’s resource potential, a program for the geological study of subsoil is being implemented in Kazakhstan. Detailed geological mapping of the country’s territory has begun, as a result of which the area of subsoil study will exceed 2 million km². On the instruction of the President, the state will allocate about $470 million for geological exploration in 2026–2028.
Work also continues on the technological modernization of the geological industry. In the context of the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence declared in Kazakhstan, special attention will be paid to the introduction of digital solutions in geological exploration, subsoil use, and production process management. Today, the Unified Subsoil Use Platform is already operating in the country, through which 22 state services are provided, licensing and monitoring of subsoil users’ obligations are automated. More than 4.6 million units of primary geological information have been digitized. The next stage will be the application of artificial intelligence for data analysis, acceleration of the search for new deposits, and increasing the efficiency of mineral resource base development.
The Prime Minister emphasized that the mining and metallurgical complex should develop not only through increased extraction, but also through the transition to deeper processing and the production of high value-added products. A number of large projects are already being implemented in this direction. Over the past two years, productions of cathode copper, ferrosilicon, ferroalloys, and other products worth over $1 billion have been commissioned.
In Abay Region, a copper smelter worth more than $1.5 billion is under construction, which will allow a significant part of the exported copper concentrate to be processed domestically. In Pavlodar Region, a hydrometallurgical plant project with a capacity of 300 thousand tons of gold-copper concentrate and up to 15 tons of gold per year is being implemented. Qarmet is carrying out large-scale modernization of metallurgical production in Karaganda Region, including the development of higher value-added products, in particular automotive steel.
Kazakhstan is developing cooperation with leading companies from the USA, China, the European Union, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and other countries, focusing not only on attracting investment but also on forming long-term technological partnerships. The priorities of such work are localization of production, technology transfer, and training of qualified personnel for the new industrial economy.
As part of AMM 2026, Olzhas Bektenov also visited an exhibition of advanced developments and solutions for the mining and metallurgical complex. This year, the exposition brought together 69 companies from 15 countries — Australia, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, Canada, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the USA, Uzbekistan, Finland, France, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Estonia. Of the total number of participants, 40 companies represent Kazakhstan, and another 29 are foreign exhibitors.
The Prime Minister familiarized himself with the expositions of leading Kazakh and international companies, including Qarmet, Kazzinc, Kazakhmys, KAZ Minerals, XCMG, ERG, as well as the business pavilions of the USA, Sweden, and Saudi Arabia. The Head of the Government was presented with modern technological solutions for the mining and metallurgical industry, projects for production modernization, the introduction of digital tools, industrial automation, improving environmental and industrial safety, as well as the development of processing and engineering services.
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