BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 29
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Kazakhstan has great potential for new discoveries of mineral deposits, Kazakhstan's Vice Minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources Sanzhar Zharkeshov said, Trend reports with reference to the ministry.
According to him, new lead and zinc deposits can be discovered in central and southern Kazakhstan, in Altai, as well as on border with Russia and China.
"There are prospects for opening new deposits for other ore minerals, i.e. tungsten, molybdenum, aluminum, tin, as well as rare earth metals," Zharkeshov said.
The vice minister added that geologists have allocated 15 sedimentary basins with estimated conventional fuel resources of about 130 billion tons.
"Five of these basins are developed, five are poorly studied, and five are of low prospects," he said.
Zharkeshov noted that exploration should be activated as soon as possible, since at least 10-15 years pass between discovery and development of a new field.
"This is why we started developing a state program of geological exploration for 2021-2025," he said.
The implementation of the state program will increase the study of Kazakh deposits from 25 percent now to 37 percent in 2025, identify about 40 promising areas, and assess the forecast hydrocarbon resources.