Central Asia Metals plc (CAM), which has copper interests in Kazakhstan, urged the government to encourage further investment by retaining low taxes.
Chief executive Nigel Robinson was speaking at the Mining and Resources Deep Dive session at the virtual Kazakhstan Global Investment Forum during October.
Mr Robinson said that while CAM had been successful in Kazakhstan and that the current low tax programme had helped its establishment it was important to maintain stability following the pandemic and not raise taxes in order to attract investments.
Specialist working for the Department for International Trade, Ros Lund, urged more availability of geological data to allow the Kazakh government to open further mining opportunities.
With companies conducting desktop studies more data would help them decide where they might want to look, she added.
“There’s a bit of a secretive mentality around geological data.
“I think it would stimulate much more interest if it were much more broadly available.”
CENTRAL ASIA METALS
CAM is the sole owner and operator of the solvent extraction–electrowinning (SX-EW) copper recovery plant at the Kounrad mine, near Balkhash in central Kazakhstan, which produces copper cathode for mainly Turkish customers.
Surface copper has been left on waste dumps from the Kounrad open-pit copper mine from operations carried out between 1936 and 2005.
Over time, oxides and low-grade sulphides of copper formed a significant tonnage deposited at the mine site, with some 160,000 tonnes of recoverable copper at the site.
CAM also owns the Sasa underground zinc-lead mine in North Macedonia, approximately 150km east of the capital city, Skopje, and 10km north of local town, Makedonska Kamenica.
The mine produces approximately 820,000 tonnes of ore each year.