ASTANA – Geologists from Karagandy, working under the state program for geological exploration, have discovered several promising areas at the Kuirektykol site with large resources of rare earth metals, estimated at around one million tons.
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The site, located 300 kilometers southeast of Astana in the Karkaraly district, lies within an ancient volcanic structure formed by extinct volcanoes and their associated products later altered by magmatic processes.
The most promising areas in terms of mineralization are the Irgiz and Dos 2 regions, where rare earth element concentrations exceed 0.1%, with some individual samples reaching up to 0.25%, reported the Kazakh Ministry of Industry and Construction on April 2.
Based on core sampling, a preliminary assessment of the reserves in the Irgiz area suggests around 800,000 tons of rare earth metals, with an average content of over 0.1%. Additional exploration work, funded by a private geological exploration company, has identified a promising new area named Zhana Kazakhstan, extending to the south and west of the Kuirektykol site. This area is predicted to contain over 20 million tons of rare earth metals.
This rare earth mineralization is unique in Kazakhstan, marking it as a new industrial type. If further confirmed, the identified rare earth deposits and promising areas may bring Kazakhstan to a leading position in the world regarding rare earth element reserves, which will allow the rapid development of the high-tech rare earth metal industry.
