A tungsten project first launched more than a decade ago in northern Kazakhstan is targeting commercial production from 2028, as the country draws growing international attention for minerals used in defence and advanced manufacturing.
Kazakh company Esil-Mining plans to develop the Aksoran tungsten-molybdenum deposit using underground mining, with preparatory work beginning in 2027 and production scheduled for the following year, according to mining industry portal Qazba.
The mine is designed to process up to one million tonnes of ore a year. Tungsten is prized for its exceptional hardness and heat resistance, and is used in cutting tools, high-strength alloys, electronics, and defence and aerospace equipment. Aksoran’s reserves are estimated at 13.9 million tonnes of ore, containing about 61,900 tonnes of tungsten trioxide, alongside smaller quantities of molybdenum. The overall project is planned to run for 16 years, including 13 years of commercial mining, with construction of a processing plant scheduled for 2027.
The ownership of the project, however, is less straightforward than some reports suggest. Esil-Mining’s sole owner is Resources Enterprise Limited, which Kursiv described as a British company, however, The Times of Central Asia was unable to independently verify an active UK company under that name.
Indeed, there are also indications of Chinese involvement in the project. In 2024, Qazinform, citing Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Construction, listed Aksoran among 15 joint Kazakhstan-China investment projects. Esil-Mining’s director had previously said in 2017 that the company was seeking investors and was particularly interested in cooperation with China.
Aksoran also sits in an environmentally sensitive location. The deposit is outside Kokshetau National Park itself but within its two-kilometre protection zone. Kazakhstan banned mineral exploration and extraction in national-park buffer zones in 2021; Esil-Mining’s mining licence was issued a year earlier, however, allowing the project to proceed under the earlier rules.
China dominates global tungsten production, accounting for about 83% of mined output in 2023, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That concentration has increased Western interest in alternative sources of the metal, while Kazakhstan is trying to bring more of its critical-mineral deposits into commercial production.
Aksoran is considerably smaller than Kazakhstan’s most prominent internationally backed tungsten project. U.S.-based Cove Kaz Capital Group and state mining company Tau-Ken Samruk are developing the Northern Katpar and Upper Kairakty deposits in the Karaganda Region, which together contain a reported 1.4 million tonnes of tungsten trioxide. Cove holds 70% of the venture and Tau-Ken Samruk 30%, with the project intended in part to supply U.S. industrial and defence markets.
