Gold ore and gold-containing deposits are localized in 16 mining districts of Kazakhstan. Gold mining industry is well supplied by the confirmed reserves of gold-containing ores, taking into account the achieved performance of the mining companies for the period (applicable to largest companies) of 50 years. The core of Kazakhstan’s gold reserves lies in the in-place reserves of the gold ore deposits. Gold mining is conducted by over 30 companies nationwide. Primary gold producers are the mining companies of the northern and central Kazakhstan. Half of the gold mined in Kazakhstan is provided by the pyrite-polymetallica deposits, in which gold is extracted as an associated component. Primary consumers are Switzerland, Italy and Russia. The most progressive method of mining is heap leaching, which allows to involve both large and small low-grade ore fields.

Some 70% of the gold ore reserves are refractory. Their large-scape industrial development, provided that the necessary technological solutions are applied, will lead to a large increase in the gold mining and production in Kazakhstan. Incentives to implement advanced technologies in beneficiation of refractory ores are possible through amending legislative acts for tax and other state revenue, in order to introduce preferences for innovative projects.

Gold mining sector is the most investment-intensive among all the ore mining industries of Kazakhstan. Each year new gold deposits are being developed, while exploration is done in all regions of Kazakhstan in order to find new gold ore deposits. Annual growth in the reserves is achieved through discovering new deposits, which can be funded by the national budget, and by means of additional exploration of the existing fields.