The government of Kazakhstan has approved an investment agreement for the construction of a new copper smelter in Balkhash, Karaganda region.
According to FinFly, citing the government press service, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov signed the relevant resolution.
The total private investment in the project will be about $1.6 billion. Construction of the plant will begin in 2027, with commissioning scheduled for 2030.
The project will be implemented by Qazaq Smelter.
The plant's production capacity will be 300,000 tonnes of cathode copper, 10 tonnes of gold, 300 tonnes of silver, and more than 1.5 million tonnes of sulfuric acid per year.
The project is expected to create about 1,200 permanent jobs. At the time of launch, 90% of employees will be Kazakh specialists, including those in managerial positions. Over the following five years, their share is planned to increase to 95%.
After the plant starts operations, Kazakhstan's copper production is expected to increase by 1.5 times to more than 800,000 tonnes per year. Exports of high-value-added copper are planned to rise from 460,000 to 760,000 tonnes annually.