Operation and project mapping
Which mines and plants exist, what they process, what equipment is installed, and which expansion or modernisation plans are real.
Mining & Metals
Mining & Metals in Central Asia.
For European suppliers of mining equipment, process technology and industrial services
Copper, gold, uranium, coal, ferroalloys and aluminium: mining and metallurgy are the backbone of the region's industry — and the segment where European technology is most consistently in demand.
01 — The Sector
Where the demand
Where the demand
actually sits.
Mining in the region is not one market. It is a handful of large groups, a layer of mid-sized operators and a growing service industry around them.
Kazakhstan is the world's largest uranium producer and a significant source of copper, chrome, ferroalloys and coal. Uzbekistan operates some of the largest gold and copper assets in the region, Kyrgyzstan is dominated by gold, and Tajikistan combines aluminium with a growing mining sector. Much of the installed equipment dates from an earlier era and is being replaced step by step.
That creates steady demand for crushing and grinding, flotation, conveying, dewatering, laboratory and analysis technology, automation, wear parts and the service structures behind them — usually as modernisation of a running operation rather than a greenfield project.
Close-up · Deposit map
Where the ore comes out of the ground.
The large deposits of the five countries on one map. Choose a country, select a site — or narrow the map down to one of the ores below it.
All deposits
The map shows the large sites of all five countries and every ore at once. Choose a country above to narrow it down, or a site to see what is found there.
Aktogay Open pit
- Copper
One of Kazakhstan's largest copper mines, in the east of the country, with its own concentrator — expanded in recent years.
Kazakhstan Bozshakol Open pit
- Copper
- Gold
A large copper and gold open pit in the Pavlodar region in the north.
Kazakhstan Zhezkazgan
- Copper
Copper mining and smelting in the middle of the steppe — one of the oldest copper centres of the region.
Kazakhstan Chu-Sarysu basin In-situ leaching
- Uranium
Most of Kazakhstan's uranium is produced by in-situ leaching in the south. Kazakhstan has been the world's largest producer since 2009, with around 40 % of global output.
Kazakhstan Khromtau
- Chrome ore
Some of the largest chrome ore deposits in the world. The ore becomes ferrochrome for the steel industry.
Kazakhstan Ekibastuz Open pit
- Coal
Some of the largest open-pit coal mines in the world; the coal feeds the power plants of the north.
Kazakhstan Ridder · Altai
- Zinc
- Lead
- Copper
- Gold
- Silver
Polymetallic ores — zinc, lead, copper, gold and silver — processed in Ridder and Oskemen.
Kazakhstan Muruntau Open pit
- Gold
One of the largest open-pit gold mines in the world, in the Kyzylkum desert — operated by the Navoi mining and metallurgical combine.
Uzbekistan Almalyk
- Copper
- Gold
- Silver
- Zinc
Copper, gold, zinc and molybdenum. The expansion of the Almalyk combine is one of the largest mining projects in the region.
Uzbekistan Kumtor ~4,000 m
- Gold
One of the highest gold mines in the world. Gold is Kyrgyzstan's largest export.
Kyrgyzstan Anzob
- Antimony
Antimony and mercury ore north of Dushanbe. Tajikistan is one of the world's largest antimony producers.
Tajikistan Penjikent
- Gold
Gold mining in the Zeravshan valley: the Jilau and Taror mines, the country's largest gold operation.
Tajikistan Garlyk
- Potash
Potash: a mining and processing plant for potassium fertiliser in the east of Turkmenistan.
Turkmenistan Balkhash Smelter
- Copper
The copper smelter on the northern shore of Lake Balkhash — together with Zhezkazgan, one of the two large copper processing centres of Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan Oskemen Metallurgy
- Zinc
- Lead
- Titanium
- Silver
Zinc, lead and silver smelting on the Irtysh, plus the titanium-magnesium works — the metallurgical centre of East Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan Zyryanovsk
- Zinc
- Lead
Lead-zinc mining in the Altai ore belt, part of the polymetallic cluster around Oskemen and Ridder.
Kazakhstan Zhairem · Atasu
- Manganese
- Lead
- Zinc
Manganese ore from the Ushkatyn deposits, plus lead, zinc and barite from Zhairem — in the Ulytau region.
Kazakhstan Shalkiya
- Zinc
- Lead
One of the largest zinc deposits in the world, north-east of Zhanakorgan in the south — about 104 million tonnes of lead-zinc ore.
Kazakhstan Arkalyk
- Aluminium
Bauxite of the Torgai region — the raw material of the alumina refinery in Pavlodar.
Kazakhstan Pavlodar Processing
- Aluminium
Alumina refinery and aluminium smelter: a complete chain from bauxite to metal.
Kazakhstan Boguty
- Tungsten
Kazakhstan's first tungsten mine, about 180 km east of Almaty, opened in 2024. Kazakhstan holds some of the world's largest tungsten reserves.
Kazakhstan Stepnogorsk
- Uranium
Uranium mines of the Kokshetau region in the north and a mining and chemical complex.
Kazakhstan Ingichka
- Tungsten
Tungsten mine and processing in the foothills of the Zeravshan range, in the Samarkand region.
Uzbekistan Angren Open pit
- Coal
Open-pit lignite mine, one of the largest mines in the country; the coal feeds the power plants.
Uzbekistan Jerooy
- Gold
Kyrgyzstan's second-largest gold deposit, about 60 km from Talas, with free gold in quartz veins.
Kyrgyzstan Bozymchak Open pit
- Copper
- Gold
An open-pit copper mine with its own concentrator in the Jalal-Abad region; gold is a by-product.
Kyrgyzstan Kanimansur
- Silver
- Zinc
- Lead
One of the largest silver deposits in the world, with lead and zinc, in the north of Sughd province.
Tajikistan Tursunzoda Smelter
- Aluminium
The aluminium smelter, one of the largest in Central Asia and one of the country's largest power users.
Tajikistan Kara-Bogaz-Gol Lagoon
- Salts
Sodium sulphate and other salts from the lagoon on the Caspian coast — one of the few places in the world where sodium sulphate occurs naturally in commercial quantities.
Turkmenistan Positions are approximate; the selection shows major sites, not every mine. Multi-coloured dots mark sites with several ores.
None of these ores is mined in the selected country on a significant scale — Turkmenistan's raw material is above all natural gas.
Select a site to light up all of its ores — or an ore, to light only that one and show only its sites on the map. Select it again to show all.
AuGold
No. 1 export of KyrgyzstanMuruntau in Uzbekistan is one of the largest open-pit gold mines in the world; Kumtor in Kyrgyzstan works at around 4,000 m.
AgSilver
Mostly a by-product of copper, zinc and lead ores — in Kazakhstan's Altai and at Almalyk in Uzbekistan.
CuCopper
Open pits at Aktogay and Bozshakol, smelting in Zhezkazgan and Balkhash. In Uzbekistan the Almalyk combine is expanding.
ZnZinc
Polymetallic ores of East Kazakhstan, smelted in Oskemen and Ridder; zinc is also produced at the Almalyk combine in Uzbekistan.
PbLead
From the same polymetallic ores — lead and zinc usually come out of the ground together.
MnManganese
Manganese ore from the Zhairem deposits in central Kazakhstan — for steel and ferroalloys.
FeIron ore
Iron ore and pellets from Rudny in the Kostanay region; steel from the works in Temirtau.
CrChrome ore
Some of the largest chrome ore deposits in the world, near Khromtau — processed into ferrochrome.
UUranium
≈ 40 % of world output, from KazakhstanProduced by in-situ leaching in southern Kazakhstan and in the Kyzylkum desert of Uzbekistan.
AlAluminium
A complete chain from bauxite to metal in Pavlodar; the smelter in Tursunzoda is one of Tajikistan's largest power users.
SbAntimony
Top 3 Tajikistan among world producersAntimony ore from Anzob in Tajikistan; a long tradition of processing in Kadamjay, Kyrgyzstan.
TiTitanium
Titanium sponge and magnesium from Oskemen — one of only a handful of producers worldwide, supplying aerospace.
WTungsten
Kazakhstan holds some of the world's largest tungsten reserves; the Boguty mine near Almaty opened in 2024. In Uzbekistan, tungsten is mined at Ingichka.
CCoal
Coking coal from the Karaganda basin feeds the steelworks in Temirtau; the open-pit mines of Ekibastuz supply the power plants of the north.
KPotash
Potash for fertiliser from the Garlyk plant in eastern Turkmenistan.
NaSalts
Sodium sulphate and other salts from the Kara-Bogaz-Gol lagoon on the Caspian coast — one of the few places in the world where sodium sulphate occurs naturally in commercial quantities.
02 — What We Do
Getting you to the right mine.
Mining customers are few, well known to each other, and sceptical of suppliers who appear once. The work is about being credible with the technical people.
Access to technical decision-makers
Chief engineers, maintenance and processing managers, procurement — the people whose opinion survives the tender committee.
Tender and procurement monitoring
Procurement cycles at the large groups run on their own rhythm. We follow them so your offer is ready before the window opens.
Service and spare parts concept
How your equipment will be maintained 3,000 kilometres from your factory — the question every serious mining customer asks first.
Local partner selection
Service companies and suppliers who already work inside the operations, checked for capability rather than for a nice brochure.
Offer and negotiation support
Technical clarification, scope comparison and the commercial terms — in Russian, which is the working language of every mine in the region.
Close-up · From pit to metal
Where your equipment sits in the flowsheet.
A mine is a chain of stations, and every one of them buys, wears out and needs service. Select a station to see the typical demand.
Laboratory, automation and measurement run along the whole chain.
01Extraction & haulage
Drilling, loading and haulage, underground or in the open pit. Ventilation and safety are not optional here.
02Crushing
Primary and secondary crushers reduce the ore to a size the mills can take. High wear, high spare-parts demand.
03Grinding & classifying
Mills, cyclones and screens — the largest energy consumer of the plant, and the first place where efficiency pays.
04Flotation & separation
Separates the valuable minerals from the rest. Recovery is measured in tenths of a percent — and in money.
05Dewatering & tailings
Thickeners, filters and water recovery — under growing pressure from water scarcity and environmental rules.
06Smelting & refining
Furnaces, electrolysis and gas cleaning turn concentrate into metal — a field for process, measurement and emission technology.
03 — Where
Four mining markets, different logics.
Scale and variety
Uranium, copper, chrome, ferroalloys and coal, with large groups running professional procurement and long investment cycles.
Gold, copper and aluminium
Large gold and copper operations in Uzbekistan, gold in Kyrgyzstan, aluminium and a growing mining sector in Tajikistan — often with state involvement.
Close-up · Fit check
Five questions — and where you would start.
Answer five short questions about your situation. The bars show which of the three ways to start fits best, and change with every answer.
A first orientation, not advice. Before anything is recommended, we look at your case in detail.
04 — Questions
Frequently asked questions.
Are these markets open to European suppliers?
Yes, and European process technology has a strong reputation there. Competition comes mainly from Chinese and Russian suppliers on price and delivery time.
How do you handle export control and compliance?
We work within EU export rules and flag anything that looks sensitive early. The final compliance decision stays with you and your export control function.
Do we need a local service presence?
For equipment that runs continuously, some form of local service — own, partner or shared — is usually a condition for winning the order at all.
Is small equipment worth the effort?
Often yes. Wear parts, instruments and laboratory equipment open doors at operations that would never start with a large investment from an unknown supplier.
05 — Let's Talk
Which operations should know your name?
Tell us what you build. We will come back with an honest first assessment of the fit.
Mining & Metals — Central Asia
From market potential to business.
Describe your equipment or service and the ore types or processes it is built for. We will tell you where it fits in the region.
Prefer email? info@aetek.eu
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