International Mining and Metallurgical Congress takes place in Kazakh capital

The foreign countries are expressing great interest in Kazakhstan’s experience in the field of geological exploration. Experts from 13 countries, including delegates from Canada, Germany, Asian and African countries, are discussing the hottest topics of the industry on the sidelines of the 12th Mining and Metallurgical Congress, which started today in the Kazakh capital.

“Cameroon is rich in minerals. However, their production in the country is not so developed. We know that Kazakhstan has vast experience in this area, I mean, the country is very well developed technologically wise. We met with the Vice Minister of Industry and Infrastructure Development of your country, and identified the potential for partnership in a number of areas. We are interested in attracting Kazakh companies to our country. We want them to invest in us and share their experience. We want to join efforts in developing the mining industry,” said Omar Ali, Secretary General, the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Technological Development of Cameroon.

Experts from different countries shared their experience in the extraction of minerals and precious metals. Kazakhstan intends to increase the production of refined gold to 100 tonnes in the coming years. Experts estimate that only 66 tonnes of gold were mined last year.

“In 2021, our production of gold-bearing ore increased by almost 25 percent, while concentrate production increased by 16 percent. These are very good indicators. Such performance was achieved due to the newly added production facilities last year. This and next year, we plan to launch five large gold processing factories,” said Gani Sagiyev, Executive Director, National Association of Precious Metal Manufactures.

The host country presented to the congress participants all the most advanced and innovative domestic projects that have been launched in recent years. A lot of technological know-how displayed here involve the automation of the production process. However, it is impossible to replace humans with machines completely. Nearly 230,000 people are working now in this sector. Their safety in the workplace was a separate topic.

“The rescue service of the sector is equipped with this modern heat generating unit. The unique device allows to timely find a person affected or injured at the scene of an accident even in dense fog not visible to the human eye. Moreover, a camera can record for about two hours nonstop. Among other things, this device also sees human hand prints,” said Zhenis Yermukanov, a correspondent.  

The share of the domestic mining industry in GDP is 9 percent. It is estimated that enterprises make products worth 11 trillion tenge per year. The volume of exports reached US$12 billion to date. However, sky’s the limit, experts are sure. The industry has room to strive and develop.

 

 Translation by Assem Zhanmukhanova and Saniya Sakenova

Editing by Saule Mukhamejanova