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Altyntau Kokshetau, part of the Kazzinc group, expects underground mining at Kazakhstan’s Vasilkovskoye deposit to generate $4.4 billion in revenue. The project is planned to run for 17 years, with capital expenditure estimated at $802 million. The first saleable ore from the mine is expected in 2027 (kursiv.media).
What happened
The company submitted a mining plan and other documents for public hearings in November. Qazba.kz published the calculations from these documents, which Kursiv cited. The Vasilkovskoye deposit is in the Zerendi district of the Akmola region, 17 km from Kokshetau.
The underground project calls for the extraction of 22.4 million tonnes of ore over its lifetime. The financial projections list $4.4 billion in revenue from sales of saleable output and $951 million in net cash flow. These are projected figures for the entire duration of the underground project.
According to the documentation, the revenue table lists saleable output of 40.5 tonnes of gold. The mining schedule lists 53.6 tonnes of metal contained in the ore. Both figures relate to the planned extraction of 22.4 million tonnes of ore.
What this means
Underground production is expected to increase gradually. The company plans to extract 7 thousand tonnes of saleable ore in 2027 and 104 thousand tonnes in 2028. Output is scheduled to rise to 1 million tonnes in 2029.
It is then expected to reach 1.7 million tonnes in 2030 and 2.4 million tonnes in 2031. Output of 2.5 million tonnes is planned for 2033. Production will then begin to decline, reaching 76 thousand tonnes by 2042.
The average gold grade over the period covered by the plan is estimated at 2.39 grams per tonne of ore. From 2029 to 2039, the underground operation is expected to produce between two and five tonnes of saleable gold annually.
How the project timeline aligns with the contract
Open-pit mining is also planned at Vasilkovskoye. The mining plan prepared in 2025 calls for the pit to be deepened to 667 metres. Annual ore output from the pit is expected to reach up to 8.5–8.6 million tonnes.
The open pit is scheduled to be mined from 2027 to 2034. Work at other parts of the combined project is planned to continue through 2045.
Following an amendment in April 2026, the subsoil use contract was extended to the end of 2033. The planned underground mining period, which runs until 2042, therefore extends beyond the current contract.
