BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 12
Trend:
For the first time, 20 deposits were put on the state balance in Kazakhstan, Trend reports citing the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan.
According to preliminary data, more than 7.5 billion tenge of investments, were attracted to the geological sphere.
Also, a geochemical laboratory was launched in the country’s Karaganda region, said the ministry.
These and other results of work for 2020 in the geological industry of Kazakhstan were announced by the Vice Minister of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan Serikkali Brekeshev, at an expanded meeting of the ministry’s collegium.
Accordingly, in 2020, a state geological study of the subsoil was carried out at 56 sites, as a result of which promising areas for the identification of minerals were determined. Based on the results of the completed work, the targets for the increase in predicted resources were fully achieved: gold - 12.6 tons, silver - 96 tons, copper – 65,000 tons, lead – 968,000 tons, zinc - 1.1 million tons.
The vice minister said that an increase in mineral reserves was also observed last year, and thereby 111.5 tons of gold, 55,400 tons of uranium, 13.8 million tons of iron ore and 31.7 million tons of oil were mined.
Besides, one of the important results of the year is the development of the draft State Program of Geological Exploration for 2021-2025, which, in accordance with the instructions of the head of state, will be turned into a national project, the vice minister stated.
“The national project is aimed at increasing the geological knowledge of the country's territory to create conditions for sustainable replenishment, development and support of the competitiveness of the mineral resource base. It will be implemented at the expense of the state budget and private investments,” added Brekeshev.
Moreover, the resumption of work on the Eurasia project was also among other results of the year.
In 2020, within the framework of the Digital Kazakhstan State Program, work was carried out to introduce the ‘National Bank of Mineral Resources Data of Kazakhstan’ Information System, he noted.
The functioning of the system will allow investors to get access to the electronic base of geological information, he said.
In 2021, the industry is tasked with conducting a state geological study of the subsoil, searching for and evaluating resources at 70 sites, launching the ‘National Bank of Mineral Resources Data of Kazakhstan’ information system and by 2025 construction of 2 core storage facilities in the central and western regions.