ASTANA – In an effort to increase production and investment into the country’s extensive mineral deposits, Kazakhstan’s government hosted its second international mining-metallurgical congress, “Astana Mining and Metallurgy 2011”, from July 4 to July 6 in the capital city of Astana.

Over 1,300 individuals attending the conference, ranging from government officials, private sector specialists, investment analysts and research scientists from 25 countries around the world. Attending representatives included individuals from the United States, China, India, United Arab Emirates, and South Korea. The congress focused on such topics as government regulations and how to adhere to them, new mining technologies, mining investment and financing strategies, and expanding the country’s metallurgical securities market.

Among the speakers and honoured guests of the Congress were the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Karim Massimov, Deputy Prime Minister of Industry and New Technologies Department Asek Issekeshev, Head of the London Stock Exchange Group Xavier Role, and Senior Marketing Specialist of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited Lawrence Fok.

In a message to the congress, the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev said that as an example of his goal to “revamp the mining and metallurgical industry” he wanted the country to produce “70 tons of gold (annually),” almost double from the current annual rate of 40, noting that this would place Kazakhstan second only to Russia in gold production.

Deputy Prime Minister Issekeshev said that the country is considering construction of a third gold refinery in addition to those operated by Kazzinc and the state-owned copper mining company Kazakhmys.