Nornickel weighs investing in gold and copper mining in Kazakhstan

Norilsk Nickel, also known as Nornickel, a Russian mining and smelting company, is thinking about investing in mining projects in Kazakhstan, Kazakh Invest reported.

«During the Central Asia Mining & Metals international trade fair held in Almaty from Sep. 17 to 19, 2024, Kazakh Invest delegation headed by the project department director Bauyrzhan Aitkulov met with local subsoil users and foreign investors… Kazakh Invest also aided a local junior company in meeting with Nornickel representatives. The negotiations were focused on the prospects of cooperation in the sphere of copper and gold production and processing in the Almaty region as Nornickel is looking into investing in mining projects alongside examining the sites for subsoil use from the national company’s project pool,» Kazakh Invest reported.

In addition, the national company met with a local investor, Lomonosovskoye. This company develops an iron ore deposit in the Kostanay region by attracting investments from the United Arab Emirates and European countries. Kazakh Invest proposed the local investor to cooperate with its major international partners in hot-briquetted iron and heavy-duty steel production.

Aitkulov also negotiated with Fakoor Sanat Tehran, an Iranian enterprise interested in iron-ore projects in Kazakhstan. Its particular attraction is an opportunity to process treat tailing dumps of the large iron-ore deposits in the Kostanay region.

Moreover, Kazakh Invest’s project manager Zhaksylyk Khasenov came with a working visit to Zhetysu Wolfram LLP, an enterprise managing a washing plant producing a tungsten concentrate in the Almaty region and the Boguty tungsten ore deposit. Jiaxin International Resources Investment, an enterprise incorporated in Hong Kong, is ready to invest $350 million in the project, creating 1,000 new jobs and increasing capacity to 3.3 million tons of ore annually to release 15,000 tons of 65% tungsten concentrate.

Nornickel is majority-owned by Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin, who holds most of the company’s shares through the private investment company Interros. According to Forbes, Potanin’s wealth is about $23.7 billion, which makes him the 85th richest person in the world.