BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 2. Kazakhstan can
strengthen its position in the global critical minerals market and
attract new investment in geological exploration, mining, and
processing.


This was stated in a study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
titled "Why Critical Mineral Shortages Are a CEO Issue."


According to the study, industrial companies underestimate the
risks associated with shortages of critical minerals and, as a
result, miss strategic opportunities.


Three key gaps in the risk assessment mechanisms used by
companies prevent them from identifying sources of vulnerability:
companies focus primarily on the cost of raw materials they
purchase, limit their analysis to direct suppliers, and concentrate
on mineral extraction without paying sufficient attention to
processing and the ownership structure of production assets. This
particularly applies to so-called "mosquito minerals", such as
gallium, germanium, iridium, and arsenic, whose importance is
considerable, but whose trading volumes are so small that the
associated risks often go unnoticed by companies.


According to BCG's forecasting model, developed using its
proprietary methodology, by 2040, demand for a number of key
mineral resources, including rare earth elements, graphite, copper,
and lithium, could reach 120-250% of projected supply.


"Under these conditions, new opportunities are emerging for
countries with abundant mineral resources, including Kazakhstan. It
has one of the richest mineral resource bases in Central Asia, with
significant explored reserves of copper, chromium, tungsten,
lithium, tantalum, rare earth elements, and other critical
minerals," the study says.







According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), Kazakhstan has the potential to supply the
global market with 21 of the 34 raw materials included in the
European Union's (EU) list of critical raw materials.


At the same time, around 65% of the country's territory remains
geologically underexplored, creating prospects for the discovery of
new deposits and additional opportunities to attract investment in
geological exploration, mining, and processing.


"Most industrial companies assess their dependence on mineral
raw materials based on procurement volumes and data on direct
suppliers. However, it is often precisely those minerals on which
companies spend very little that can bring production lines to a
halt. The question for CEOs and boards of directors is not whether
a company is exposed to these risks. It certainly is. The question
is whether they will prefer to leave things as they are or find a
way to turn existing risks into a competitive advantage," said
Tycho Möncks, Managing Director and Partner at BCG and one of the
study's authors.


The study states that current conditions in the global critical
minerals market offer Kazakhstan an opportunity to strengthen its
position in global supply chains, as well as attract new investment
in geological exploration, deposit development, and the expansion
of processing facilities.