The Ai Karaaul area (225 sq. km) consists of a group of deposits located in the Urjar district, Abai region, 40 km from the city of Ayagoz.
- In 2019, based on the results of geological exploration, the Ai copper deposit with reserves of 54.2 thousand tonnes of copper was placed on the State Balance of mineral resources. Following this, the Company continued systematic exploration aimed at increasing the mineral resource base and refining the geological model of the deposit.
- The main scope of exploration and research activities was carried out in 2024–2025. The program included drilling, sampling, and laboratory testing conducted at ALS Kazgeochemistry (Kazakhstan) and Sael (Kyrgyzstan).
- In 2024, the VNIITsvetmet Institute completed column leach tests on different ore types, demonstrating 82.4% recovery for oxide ores and 55.9% for transition ores.
In early 2025, variability testing was finalized, resulting in a refined delineation of oxide, transition, and sulphide ore zones. - As a result of these activities, the total forecasted copper reserves reached 85.7 thousand tonnes, reflecting an increase of approximately 30 thousand tonnes. Notably, the oxide ore volume nearly doubled, significantly enhancing the project’s economic potential.
- At present, the Company is preparing a JORC-compliant Mineral Resource and Reserve Report, with the estimation and balance registration being performed by the international consulting firm SLR (Wardell Armstrong).
- SX-EW plant with an initial design capacity of 5,000 tonnes of cathode copper per year has been developed earlier. Considering the updated data and confirmed resource growth, the project is now being revised and optimized for an increased capacity of up to 7,000 tonnes per year, paving the way for the next stage of industrial development of the deposit.
According to the Minutes of the State Commission on Mineral Reserves of the Republic of Kazakhstan (GKZ RK) No. 2016-19-U dated January 29, 2019
| Category | Ore, tons | Cu content, % | Cu, tons |
| For Open Pit Mining | |||
| C1 | 2 412 520 | 1,69 | 40 880 |
| С2 | 54 290 | 1,27 | 690 |
| С1 + С2 | 2 466 800 | 1,68 | 41 560 |
| Oxide Ore | |||
| C1 | 1 156 020 | 1,48 | 17 130 |
| С2 | 50 010 | 1,31 | 660 |
| С1 + С2 | 1 206 020 | 1,47 | 17 780 |
| Sulphide Ore | |||
| C1 | 1 256 500 | 1,86 | 23 750 |
| С2 | 4 280 | 0,71 | 30 |
| С1 + С2 | 1 260 780 | 1,89 | 23 780 |
| Underground Sulphide Ore Reserves | |||
| С2 | 884 900 | 1,43 | 12 700 |
Geological Works Conducted from 2019 to 2025*
Drilling: 7 648.8 linear metres
Trenching: 3 364 linear metres
Core sampling: 10 379 samples collected
Channel sampling: 3 922 samples collected
Composite sampling: 160 composite samples selected for metallurgical and geotechnological testing
Ai Deposit Resources Based on Exploration Results (2024–2025)
(Author’s Estimate))
| Ore, tons | Cu content, % | Cu, tons |
| Total | ||
| 8 770 736 | 0,98 | 85 714 |
| Oxide Ore | ||
| 3 373 145 | 0,96 | 32 290 |
| Transitional Ore | ||
| 2 522 137 | 1,20 | 30 308 |
| Sulphide Ore | ||
| 2 875 452 | 0,80 | 23 115 |
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