Institute for rare and critical minerals being set up in Ust-Kamenogorsk

An institute for the study of rare and critically important minerals is being set up in Ust-Kamenogorsk. Based on existing scientific laboratories, local specialists will work on improving technologies for extracting in-demand rare and rare-earth metals, particularly lithium, which is needed to produce batteries. The strategically important project is being carried out jointly with scientists from Belgium.

Kazakhstan has more than 120 deposits of rare and rare-earth metals, of which about 40 have been explored, with promising areas concentrated in the east. Geologists estimate that demand for lithium will rise tens of times in 20 years. In 2025, global electric vehicle sales rose 20%, and as a result global demand for lithium-ion batteries grew by 29%.

Ernat Kozhakhmetov, head of the VERITAS laboratory at East Kazakhstan Technical University, said Kazakhstan could become more than a raw-material base by introducing technologies already used in Europe, America and China. Bart Blanpain, professor at the Institute for Sustainable Metals and Minerals in Leuven, Belgium, said the universities are ready to cooperate and believe the scientific partnership will bear fruit. Since 2018, more than 67 billion tenge in budget funds has been invested in geological exploration.