The heart of the national iron ore infrastructure lies in the magnetite and sedimentary deposits of the brown iron ores of the northern Kazakhstan, amounting to billions of tons of total volume. Manganese ore is provided mainly by the complex iron-manganese fields of the central Kazakhstan. Chromites are characterized by a large quality of ores and are found in a relatively small area within the Kempirsay ultrabasic block in the western Kazakhstan. Primary ferrous metal companies are «Sokolovsko-Sarbayskoye GOPO» JSC, «Orken» LLP, «Zhairemskiy GOK», Kazchrome Transnational Company.

Ferrous metal industry of Kazakhstan is focused on meeting the demands of the Kazakhstani metallurgic companies, as well as the needs of Russia and China, where the excess production is exported to.

There are challenges in improving the quality in development of the uniquely rich deposits of brown ore, but they are being gradually resolved. Prospects of further development are contingent upon involving backup fields and enhancing production capacities of the mining companies.