Illustration: AI
Uranium production at Kazakhstan’s Semizbay deposit will begin to decline in 2035. The project provides for an annual capacity of 406.1 tonnes through the end of 2034. Mining of all deposits covered by the project is scheduled to finish by 2037, according to a forecast in documents prepared for public hearings in November (inbusiness.kz).
What happened
The plans are set out in draft discharge standards, a document specifying limits on pollutants in the mine’s wastewater. It was published ahead of public hearings for Semizbay-U LLP scheduled for November. Under the draft, the mine is to maintain an annual capacity of 406.1 tonnes of uranium from 2023 through 2034.
“Annual production is scheduled to decline from 2035 to 2037, by which time mining of all deposits covered by the project should be completed,” the document states.
Where the uranium is mined
About three-quarters of Semizbay’s reserves are in North Kazakhstan Region, with the rest in Akmola Region. Uranium is extracted using in-situ leaching through boreholes. The process requires sulfuric acid: annual use of 66.7–70.1 thousand tonnes of the reagent is planned for 2027–2030.
Semizbay is operated by the Semizbay-U joint venture, in which Kazatomprom holds a 51% stake and China’s CGN Mining owns 49%. The venture also operates the Irkol deposit in Kyzylorda Region.
What this means for production volumes
Kazatomprom’s handbook forecasts uranium production of 635 tonnes for Semizbay-U as a whole in 2030. It lists annual output of 406 tonnes for 2031–2034. Production then falls to 318 tonnes in 2035, 85 tonnes in 2036 and 32 tonnes in 2037.
In its 2025 annual report, CGN Mining noted mounting difficulties at Semizbay and Irkol. The company linked them to resource availability and uranium extraction conditions: mining is becoming more difficult, and costs are harder to contain.
Production in 2026
Semizbay produced 133.7 tonnes of uranium in the first half of 2026, falling short of its targets in both quarters. Output in January–March was 58.5 tonnes against a target of 81.9 tonnes. CGN Mining attributed the first-quarter shortfall to a sulfuric acid shortage.
In April–June, production rose to 75.2 tonnes against a target of 81.2 tonnes. The company expected a return to normal acid supplies to allow it to maintain annual production. In 2025, Semizbay produced 396.6 tonnes against a target of 406.4 tonnes.
The next step is the public hearings on Semizbay-U’s documents in November.
