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Focused on Copper
At the core of modern life
Copper is essential to the technologies that power our world: electric vehicles, renewable energy, telecommunications, and more. At KAZ Minerals, copper isn’t just what we produce, it’s the foundation of everything we do.
Why copper matters
A future-ready metal
As the world transitions to lower carbon energy sources and increased electrification, copper demand is set to rise. Durable, highly conductive, and fully recyclable, copper is vital to building a more connected, sustainable future.
Copper is used in
Our focus
Delivering efficient, long life copper production
We specialise in large scale, low cost copper mining operations in Central Asia. Our assets are designed for efficiency and long-term output, with integrated processing facilities that allow us to produce high-quality copper concentrate and cathode.
Key features of our operations:
Open-pit mining with significant ore reserves
Low-cost production driven by scale and modern infrastructure
Ongoing investment in asset expansion and mine life extensions
See the process in action
How we mine and process copper
Our copper production process is designed to maximise resource efficiency and product quality.
From ore to copper
How we mine and process copper
Our copper production process follows four main stages, each designed to maximise resource efficiency and product quality.
Extraction
Ore is mined from open pit and underground mines using tailored and optimised drilling and blasting techniques.
Crushing & grinding
The ore is crushed and ground into fine particles, creating a slurry that allows valuable minerals to be separated from waste rock.
Concentration
Using flotation, the copper minerals are separated and concentrated. This produces a high-grade copper concentrate, which is ready for transportation to customers.
Smelting
During smelting, copper concentrate and silica flux are melted in a furnace to produce a matte rich in copper, with iron forming a removable slag and sulphur captured as sulphuric acid, before the matte is further refined in a converter to produce 99% pure blister copper.
Refining
Blister copper is refined in a furnace to remove impurities, cast into anodes, and then electrolytically purified in acid-filled tanks to produce 99.95–99.99% pure copper on cathodes, while valuable slimes containing gold and silver are recovered as by-products.