Kazakhstan possesses vast reserves of mineral resources, and the country must efficiently utilize these natural assets, President of the Republic Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said today, Report informs referring to Akorda.
According to him, there are more than 9,500 deposits in the country, with about 160 million tons of ore mined annually and around 3.5 million tons of copper concentrate produced.
“The domestic manufacturing industry is showing significant growth. Last year, the sector’s output reached $60 billion. Over the past three years, 540 industrial projects have been implemented across all regions of the country. As a result, nearly 50,000 permanent jobs have been created. Today, we are embarking on the implementation of another significant industrial project (the construction of the Aktogay copper smelter – ed.),” he said.
The president noted that the new plant will provide additional impetus to the development of Kazakhstan’s economy.
“The capacity of the new enterprise will reach 300,000 tons of cathode copper per year, fully covering the needs of the domestic market. Following the plant’s launch, Kazakhstan will enter the top ten world producers of high-quality refined copper. In addition, the enterprise will produce gold and sulfuric acid. The implementation of such a large-scale project will make a substantial contribution to the development of domestic metallurgy,” the head of state noted.