Kazakhstan Boosts Metal Output for EV Batteries

By Olzhas Auyezov and Eric Onstad

ALMATY (Reuters) – Kazakhstan aims to enhance the production of metals essential for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The country is issuing hundreds of new exploration licenses to attract fresh investment in this sector. According to its industry minister, the former Soviet republic presents itself as a reliable supplier of critical materials, especially as Russia threatens export restrictions and China tightens control over rare earths. Kazakhstan has signed agreements with the European Union and Britain regarding the supply of these crucial minerals.

"People know that Kazakhstan is very reliable… We've been supplying markets for a very long time," said Industry Minister Kanat Sharlapaev in an interview. The Central Asian nation, which is the ninth largest globally by land area but sparsely populated, possesses deposits of 90% of the periodic table's elements and is already a significant exporter of ferroalloys, gold, and copper.

The country aims to increase its market share in battery materials such as lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel, and graphite due to rising demand. Although Kazakhstan already mines manganese, it launched the processing of manganese sulfate last year and aspires to capture 10% of the global market for this battery material. Additionally, it supplies phosphates for fertilizers and intends to process materials required for lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are becoming increasingly popular.

"Building scalable processing of battery-grade metals is something we want to expand," Sharlapaev, a former Citigroup banker, stated. "We already have production facilities; it's just a matter of expanding the range of those materials."

Russian Threat

This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned that Moscow should contemplate limiting exports of uranium, titanium, nickel, and potentially other commodities in response to Western sanctions.

Kazakhstan is a key global supplier of both uranium and titanium, holding 2% of the world’s nickel reserves. However, it has a negligible share of global nickel output and has yet to fully explore its lithium deposits, although exploration efforts are currently underway. To expedite exploration and development, the government has streamlined the licensing process and digitized it, resulting in 487 licenses issued this year compared to 397 for all of 2022, according to ministry data.

Major mining companies involved in exploration in Kazakhstan include BHP, Rio Tinto, First Quantum Minerals, Fortescue, and Teck Resources.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently acquired a stake in a firm exploring graphite in Kazakhstan. Despite being part of Russian-led economic and security groups, Kazakhstan has maintained neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, committed to adhering to Western sanctions against Moscow, and is actively developing cargo transit routes that bypass Russia.