Kazakhstan and the United States have discussed cooperation on critical minerals amid the global race for rare earth metals. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The C5+1 Dialogue on Critical Minerals took place in Astana with the participation of Central Asian countries and the United States. The meeting was co-chaired by Kazakhstan's Minister of Industry and Construction Yersaiyn Nagaspayev and US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor.
The event was held ahead of the 16th International Mining and Metallurgical Congress AMM-2026. The main topic of negotiations was cooperation in exploration, extraction, processing, and supply of critical minerals.
The dialogue was attended by representatives of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
"President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev particularly emphasizes the important role of the C5+1 platform as a new format of interaction between Central Asia and the United States of America," said Yersaiyn Nagaspayev.
According to him, growing global demand for critical minerals makes cooperation in this area especially important. The minister noted that Kazakhstan considers the critical minerals sector as one of the key directions of industrial policy and long-term economic development.
According to the Ministry of Industry, Kazakhstan's resource base includes over 9,500 deposits. More than 100 of them contain rare and rare earth metals.
The authorities state that digitalization of the industry and the introduction of international standards have significantly increased investment inflows. Major global companies have already entered the Kazakhstan market, including Rio Tinto, Barrick Gold, First Quantum Minerals, Ivanhoe Mines, Teck Resources, Fortescue, and Cove Capital.
During the dialogue, the parties discussed the creation of high-tech production facilities and industrial clusters in the field of raw material processing. Special attention was paid to technology transfer, personnel training, and scientific and technical cooperation.
Logistics and the creation of reliable supply chains for products to the global market were also discussed. Following the meeting, participants confirmed their interest in developing joint industrial and infrastructure projects in the C5+1 format.
Earlier, Kursiv reported that the American company Cove Capital and Kazakhstan's Tau-Ken Samruk will jointly develop one of the world's largest undeveloped tungsten deposits in the Karaganda region.