ERG’s US$1B Kazakhstan spend: project and power notes for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Eurasian Resources Group is committing more than US$1 billion to its Kazakhstan mining and metallurgical assets, funding a 2‑million‑tonnes‑per‑year hot briquetted iron plant, a new iron ore pellet plant and an 80 MW ferroalloy gas utilisation power station at the Aktobe ferroalloys complex. The programme also covers a 7.5‑million‑tonnes‑per‑year chromium mine, modernisation of the Aksu power station, and upgrades at the Pavlodar alumina plant, including vertical calcination kilns, filtration units and recovery of 15 tonnes per year of gallium. Kazakhstan will gain first domestic production of HBI and gallium, strengthening ERG’s integrated ferrous and critical metals value chain.
Technical Brief
- ERG’s Kazakhstan investment exceeds US$1 billion, its largest single-country capital programme to date.
- Operations in Kazakhstan account for over one‑third of the national metals and mining industry output.
- The Kazakhstan government holds a 40% equity stake in ERG, aligning project risk with state interests.
- ERG’s Metalkol operation in DRC is among the world’s largest cobalt producers, plus significant copper output.
- A three‑year contract commits ERG to supply Electra Battery Materials with 3,000 t/y cobalt hydroxide.
- Electra’s Temiskaming Shores refinery is designed as North America’s first dedicated cobalt refinery of its type.
- Once fully commissioned, Electra’s plant could supply cobalt for batteries in up to 1.5 million EVs annually.
Our Take
ERG’s planned cobalt hydroxide flows from the Metalkol mine into Electra Battery Materials’ Temiskaming Shores refinery position Kazakhstan and the DRC as upstream anchors for North American EV supply chains, a pattern that contrasts with the more US‑centric lithium and rare earths projects in other recent coverage.
The combination of a 2 Mt/y HBI plant, a 7.5 Mt/y chromium mine and an 80 MW gas‑utilisation power station suggests ERG is trying to secure a low‑emissions steel and ferroalloy value chain in Kazakhstan, which could give it a cost and carbon‑intensity edge over higher‑emitting iron ore and ferroalloy producers tracked in our Mining database.
With the Kazakhstan government holding a 40% equity stake in ERG, this more‑than‑$1 billion programme effectively functions as state‑backed industrial policy, which is likely to make permitting and infrastructure access smoother than for many standalone private iron ore or cobalt developers in our recent project coverage.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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