Kazakhstan's critical materials policy: still no single national list, Decree No. 1221 remains the framework, ministry sets rare-earth centre timeline

The highest-level decision-making on critical materials came at the Security Council meeting on August 20. According to the Akorda, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev chaired a meeting on developing the critical materials industry, including rare and rare-earth metals, and heard reports from members of the government on the state of the sector, prospects for developing the resource base, the growth of processing and existing barriers. (unconfirmed)

Following the meeting, the government and relevant agencies were instructed to form a systemic vision for the sector, improve regulation, develop exploration and processing, bring technogenic mineral formations into economic use, strengthen laboratory and human capacity, and remove administrative barriers. "The current situation in the world creates favourable, one might even say unique, conditions for those who have reserves," Tokayev said. (unconfirmed)

Kazakhstan, however, still has no single national list of critical minerals. Forbes Kazakhstan made this point in an analytical article in August, noting that the Comprehensive Plan itself acknowledges the lack of fixed definitions and a unified list of rare and rare-earth metals. Maria Lobacheva, programme director of the public association Echo, told BES.media in 2025 that the legislation contains neither a definition of critical materials nor a list of them.

The sector's main policy document remains the Comprehensive Plan for the Development of the Rare and Rare-Earth Metals Industry for 2024–2028, approved by Government Decree No. 1221 of December 28, 2023, which is in force. The Ministry of Industry and Construction must report on its implementation to the Government Office twice a year, by February 15 and August 15.

The ministry gave its latest update on October 12. Vice Minister of Industry and Construction Olzhas Saparbekov said a regional rare-earth metals research centre is being set up on the Head of State's instructions with the participation of EU institutions, and that the EBRD has supported a preliminary feasibility study. With European Commission support, construction of a laboratory complex comprising geochemical, arbitration and research metallurgy laboratories is planned to begin in 2027, with full operation expected by the end of 2028 (unconfirmed).

The ministry also said production of gallium with a capacity of 15 tonnes a year is planned. The same capacity appears in ERG's announcement of its Pavlodar project, which will extract gallium from process solutions at Aluminium of Kazakhstan.

The ministry lists higher value-added products as priorities: battery materials, special alloys, semiconductor materials and permanent magnets. These are close to the directions the ministry set out at a government meeting in September 2025.

(unconfirmed) According to the ministry, 38 prospective rare-earth sites have been identified across 11 prospecting areas. This figure appears in only one source.

In the newsroom's view, without a single list "critical minerals" are not yet a separate legal category in Kazakhstan, and the support a project can receive depends on specific plan provisions and investment agreements.

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Sources:
- Zakon.kz, 20.08.2026: https://www.zakon.kz/sobytiia/6528720-zasedanie-sovbeza-v-akorde-tokaev-sdelal-zayavlenie-o-kriticheskikh-materialakh.html
- Tengrinews, 20.08.2026: https://tengrinews.kz/kazakhstan_news/tokaev-provel-zasedanie-sovbeza-606622/
- Forbes Kazakhstan, 05.08.2026: https://forbes.kz/articles/chto-kazahstan-dolzhen-vklyuchit-v-perechen-kriticheskih-mineralov-3c961c
- BES.media, 03.10.2025: https://bes.media/news/zapasi-est-zakonov-net-chto-meshaet-kazahstanu-stat-liderom-po-kriticheskim-mineralam/
- Government Decree No. 1221 of December 28, 2023 (adilet P2300001221): https://adilet.zan.kz/rus/docs/P2300001221
- zakon.uchet.kz: https://zakon.uchet.kz/rus/docs/P2300001221
- Inbusiness.kz, 13.10.2026: https://www.inbusiness.kz/ru/last/kazahstan-mozhet-postavlyat-evrope-21-iz-34-kriticheski-vazhnyh-mineralov
- Kazinform, 12.10.2026: https://www.inform.kz/ru/tsentr-redkozemelnih-metallov-otkroyut-v-kazahstane-23992abe
- ERG, 20.12.2025: https://www.erg.kz/ru/news/show/3750
- Kapital.kz, 09.09.2025: https://kapital.kz/economic/140435/minprom-opredelil-perspektivnye-napravleniya-razvitiya-v-kazahstane-otrasli-rzm.html

(This article was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by an editor; the illustration is AI-generated and is not a photograph.)