Almaty-based company Kalzhyr Gold plans to search for placer gold at the Karazhal site in the Kurchum district of the East Kazakhstan region, according to a statement on planned activities reported by infohub.kz.
"The purpose of the planned work is to conduct searches for a placer deposit near the Karazhal river and to assess placer gold reserves at identified sites, including previously mined placers," the document for public hearings on the project, obtained by Kursiv, states.
The company received its exploration license on February 26, 2026, valid for six years. The nearest settlement, the village of Ushbulak, lies 12 km north of the site. An asphalt road runs 38 km from the site near the village of Karatogai, while other roads are ordinary intermittent dirt tracks.
The most promising areas within the license block were identified in the Karazhal-Koichilik basin. Open sources mention a Karazhal stream flowing into the Koichilik stream. The conclusions are based on a preliminary analysis of available historical materials—reports and archival data.
Exploratory pits and trenches are planned to be excavated using an excavator and a loader. A total of 152 pits with a volume of 1,085 cubic meters and a depth of up to 4 meters are planned. The trenches will be 250 meters long and 2.5 meters deep.
Some 1,245 samples with a total weight of 21,912 kg are to be collected. One sample is 50 cm long and weighs 17.6 kg. All geological exploration and laboratory work, research, and data processing will take place in 2027–2031.
The head and sole owner of the Almaty-based company Kalzhyr Gold is Aidar Abitaliev. He also heads the Almaty-based Central Asia International Business Cooperation Center, whose co-owners are Aidar Abitaliev and Mao Liping.