KazNickel, whose ultimate owner is Kenes Rakishev, has announced plans to commence cobalt and nickel mining at the Gornostayevskoye deposit in the Beskaragay district of the Abay region. According to the company’s latest reports, the sole participant in KazNickel is Battery Metals Technologies LTD, a Singapore-registered entity controlled by Rakishev.
The Gornostayevskoye deposit, located 100 km west of Semey and 30 km southeast of Kurchatov, has a well-developed infrastructure. The company previously conducted pilot-scale extraction at this site. The new project envisions the development of the left-bank section of the deposit using underground borehole leaching, with an annual production target of 10,000 tons of cobalt and nickel. The left-bank section covers an area of 26.25 square kilometers, and sulfuric acid will be used in the leaching process to extract the valuable ions directly underground without bringing the ore to the surface.
Between 2026 and 2046, KazNickel plans to drill 32,900 boreholes, each with a depth of 15-40 meters and a diameter of 16.8-24.4 cm. The company will strip the topsoil to a depth of 20 cm before drilling, storing it outside the drilling area.
In 2022, KazNickel reported plans to begin nickel concentrate production in 2023. The company also noted a significant increase in nickel prices on the global market starting in early 2022. However, the first phase of the project, from 2026 to 2035, is currently the focus. In 2019, KazNickel extended its pilot mining operations until 2022, and the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development began reviewing contract amendments in 2022 to transition to the production phase.
KazNickel plans to use 19,500 cubic meters of water during the first phase, most of which will be technical water (17,300 cubic meters). The company recorded a loss of 263.3 million tenge in 2022, an improvement from a 1.4 billion tenge loss in 2021, with cumulative losses totaling 3.4 billion tenge by the end of 2022. Its total assets decreased to 3.3 billion tenge at the end of 2022, down from 3.8 billion tenge a year earlier.
As of December 31, 2022, the Gornostayevskoye deposit’s cobalt-nickel ores had identified mineral resources of 470,300 tons of nickel with an average grade of 0.57% and 32,300 tons of cobalt with an average grade of 0.039%, recognized by the state accounting of Kazakhstan’s subsurface resources.
To continue the development, KazNickel received loans from related parties — Fincraft Resources and Ertis Ferroalloy Plant. On January 13, 2023, the sole participant decided to admit a new participant, Mining Technologies Company, by redistributing shares. The new participant committed to increasing the company’s charter capital by 4.7 billion tenge, which was 6 billion tenge at the end of 2022, in exchange for a 26% stake. The actual funds were received from Mining Technologies Company in March 2023.
Kenes Rakishev ranks 19th among Kazakhstan’s wealthiest individuals, according to Forbes, with a net worth of $435 million. He solely owns Fincraft Group, through which he controls 78.85% of Fincraft Resources and BTA Bank.
