It is possible that they will be used as raw materials in Russian industry.
Titanium-zirconium ores are planned to be mined in 2025-2034 in Block I of the central deposit of the Kumkol deposit, which is located in the Aitekebi district of the Aktobe region.
The mining plan indicates that the Kumkol deposit, along with other smaller objects, was discovered in 1955. After ten years, prospecting and evaluation work and preliminary exploration were carried out, and in 1960-62, its hydrogeological conditions were studied. Then, a technological study of the enrichment of local titanium-zirconium ores was carried out, and the technology for their enrichment was tested on screw separators at an experimental enrichment plant built near the deposit.
The currently proposed project for open-pit mining of the deposit using excavators will be implemented in the next ten years. The work will be carried out seasonally during the warm season – only seven months. The design capacity of the enterprise for the next 10 years will be more than 900 thousand m3 of ore per year. “The ore, taking into account permissible losses and dilution, is subject to processing at a modular beneficiation plant. The annual ore processing capacity will be 946,291.5 m3/year. The output of marketable products is envisaged: ilmenite concentrate in the amount of 2.9%, or 25,000 tons per year; rutile-zirconium product in the amount of 0.9%, or 9160.10 tons per year. Investments are envisaged in the construction of the beneficiation plant. Capital investments are estimated at 2,013,043 thousand tenge, or 4411.57 thousand US dollars, for 2024 for the beneficiation plant with the arrangement of quarry equipment infrastructure and reinvestment of 300 thousand dollars annually to maintain capacity and replace units,” the technical and economic part of the project details. The nearest railway station, Eike, is located 30 km from the deposit, from where it is possible to transport products to end consumers in Russia, China and other countries, the project layout explains. As is known, the demand for titanium and zirconium raw materials in the Russian industry is currently increasing.
The documentation also specifies that the current export prices for ilmenite concentrate were used to calculate the income from product sales – $ 165 per ton, and for rutile-zirconium product – $ 600 per ton. In general, the project is profitable, its organizers believe, they expect to pay CIT in the total amount of $ 1.4 million over the next 10 years, while the payback period will be only 2.8 years.
It is worth noting here that before this, in Soviet times and in the early 2000s, Kumkol was considered a non-industrial facility due to the low mineral content, it was assumed to be unprofitable under all options for accounting for reserves. According to the mineral resource assessment report prepared in accordance with the Kazakhstan KAZRC standard, the Kumkol titanium-zirconium ore reserves as of April 2022 amounted to 428 thousand tons of titanium oxide TiO2 and 65.6 thousand tons of zirconium oxide ZrO2.
The total balance ore reserves at the deposit as of the beginning of April 2023 amounted to 29705.9 thousand m3. For the period 2025-2034, it is envisaged to replenish balance reserves in the amount of 9.462 thousand m3 of ore sands, as specified in the non-technical summary of the project.
In conclusion, we note that one of the founders of Astra-A, according to open sources, is Ilya Ivakhov. Previously, he was the head of Tioline LLC, which mined titanium-zirconium ore at the Obukhovskoye deposit in the North Kazakhstan region. In addition, Ivakhov is a founder of Kazrostsirkon LLC.