Kazakhstan unveils flotation unit to recover chromium from industrial waste
New facility at Donskoy GOK aims to turn waste into resource as Kazakhstan pushes green mining and waste recycling policies
ASTANA, Kazakhstan (MNTV) — Kazakhstan has launched a new flotation facility at the Donskoy Mining and Processing Plant (GOK) in the western city of Khromtau, designed to recover chromium from industrial waste and boost environmentally sustainable mining. The project is part of the ERG Green program led by Kazchrome, a subsidiary of Eurasian Resources Group (ERG).
According to the independent outlet The Times of Central Asia, the initiative is the first of its kind in the country’s chromium sector, where flotation technology is rarely used. The method enables recovery from ultrafine particles previously deemed unprocessable, allowing the plant to reprocess waste stockpiles that have accumulated over decades.
Donskoy GOK, founded in 1938, operates the world’s second-largest confirmed chromium ore deposit. The plant supplies ferroalloy smelters in Aksu and Aktobe and produced a record 6 million tons of ore and 1.864 million tons of ferroalloys in 2024.
With the new flotation unit, Kazchrome expects to recover chromium from an additional 14.5 million tons of waste material.
Kazchrome invested more than 20.6 billion tenge ($38 million) in the facility, which was developed by ERG’s Research and Engineering Center and secured patent approval. Company chair Shukhrat Ibragimov said the technology reflects ERG’s effort to merge international best practices with in-house solutions, turning legacy industrial waste into valuable output.
The flotation unit represents the second stage of ERG’s environmental program at Donskoy GOK. In 2023, the plant introduced a gravity separation facility that produced concentrate with a chromium content of nearly 49 percent.
The latest system builds on that by extracting ultrafine fractions through a process in which air bubbles carry chromium particles to the surface for collection.
Kazakhstan’s government has encouraged such investments as part of its broader strategy to recycle man-made mineral formations.
Officials estimate that the country’s mining sector has accumulated between 55 and 60 billion tons of waste. To incentivize reuse, authorities have proposed reducing the mineral extraction tax by tenfold for companies engaged in processing industrial byproducts.
The initiative highlights Kazakhstan’s bid to balance resource extraction with environmental responsibility, positioning the country’s mining industry as a regional leader in sustainable practices.
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