Ivanhoe Mines Begins Exploration of World’s Third-Largest Sedimentary Copper Basin in Kazakhstan

Canadian mining company Ivanhoe Mines has announced a joint venture with UK-based Pallas Resources to explore the Chu-Sarysu Copper Basin in Kazakhstan - the world’s third-largest sediment-hosted copper basin, containing 27 million tons of known copper. Exploration Plans and Investment Ivanhoe Mines has acquired an initial 20% equity stake in the joint venture and has committed $18.7 million in exploration expenditure over the next two years. License applications, submitted in Q4 2024, cover an area of approximately 16,000 km². Pallas Resources has digitized extensive Soviet-era geological data covering the license area. Initial analysis has identified multiple potential copper targets, which will be further explored following an airborne geophysics survey later this year. After the initial two-year phase, Ivanhoe has the option to increase its stake by investing up to $115 million over the next four years, depending on how much of the license area it retains. If a major copper deposit is discovered, Ivanhoe can secure up to an 80% equity stake by financing and completing a pre-feasibility study. Significance of the Chu-Sarysu Basin Ivanhoe Founder and Executive Co-Chairman Robert Friedland emphasized Kazakhstan’s importance as a key mining jurisdiction and home to one of the world’s most significant copper basins. “The Ivanhoe Group has a long history in Kazakhstan... and we look forward to returning to this tremendous country to further unlock the significant geological potential of the Chu-Sarysu Basin,” Friedland said. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the Chu-Sarysu Basin contains an estimated 25 million tons of undiscovered copper, further underscoring its untapped potential. The basin is also known to contain lead, zinc, silver, barium, and strontium deposits. Kazakhstan’s Mining Industry Kazakhstan is already a global leader in mineral production: World’s largest uranium producer. Second-largest chromite producer. Major producer of copper, zinc, iron ore, and coal. Mining and quarrying contribute approximately 14% of Kazakhstan’s GDP and 17.5% of its total exports, valued at around $10.5 billion.