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Astana, Kazakhstan: Kenges Rakishev, one of the richest men in Kazakhstan, stepped off a private jet at a Soviet-era airport and hopped into the lead car of a convoy of sport utility vehicles. The cars tore down a two-lane road, zipping past the snow-covered steppe in eastern Kazakhstan at 90 mph. Riding shotgun, Rakishev gestured toward the vast emptiness.”Nothing, right?” he said with a chuckle.”But it’s a unique opportunity.”
That opportunity is in nickel, a key mineral used in electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies. Kazakhstan, a mineral-rich country in Central Asia, has a lot of nickel, and Rakishev is investing tens of millions of dollars to extract it.
Rakishev, 44, has connections to Kazakhstan’s ruling elite that are apparent in his energy investments and his purchase of a bank seized by the government. His close ties with a former prime minister of Kazakhstan brought him into the orbit of Hunter Biden, the American president’s son whose business dealings became the focus of an impeachment inquiry by Republicans. But Rakishev’s next big investment is much closer to home.
The world’s transition to renewable energy, including electric cars, requires huge amounts of nickel, copper, lithium and other critical minerals. Kazakhstan has many of them, and China, the biggest producer of EVs and batteries, is right next door and eager to buy. “Everything is going to China,” Rakishev said.
A former Soviet Republic, Kazakhstan borders Russia to the north and China to the east and retains close trade ties to Russia. But China is a much larger customer for Kazakhstan’s critical minerals, using them to feed the insatiable needs of its factories churning out electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels – Kazakhstan said it was also courting buyers from the West and that it did not play favourites when it came to investors in mining.
“If somebody is doing geological exploration, I don’t care what flag they carry,” said Kanat Sharlapayev, Kazakhstan’s minister of industry and construction and a former Citigroup executive in Kazakhstan and the Middle East.
Rakishev’s company, Kaznickel, is producing nickel and cobalt in the Abay region of eastern Kazakhstan. The project resembles a modest farming outpost, nothing like the open-pit sites used to extract nickel in countries such as Indonesia. In fields blanketed with fresh snow, boreholes stick out of the ground every few feet. Kaznickel injects a chemical solution into the ground through the openings. The nickel dissolves in the solution, which is then pumped to the surface and processed in a metal storehouse next to the site. The Kaznickel project was started five years ago as a pilot. Mining requires a lot of patience and foresight – a lesson that, Rakishev said, other countries would be wise to heed.
The West, he said, is lagging behind when it comes to critical minerals. China started to secure supplies of lithium, cobalt and graphite decades ago. “You need to have patience like China,” he said. “They think strategically.” nyt
Beijing has invested billions of dollars, much of it as part of its Belt and Road foreign policy initiative, into upgrading Kazakhstan’s railways and other infrastructure to establish easier trade routes to Europe, an essential trading partner of China.
That opportunity is in nickel, a key mineral used in electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies. Kazakhstan, a mineral-rich country in Central Asia, has a lot of nickel, and Rakishev is investing tens of millions of dollars to extract it.
Rakishev, 44, has connections to Kazakhstan’s ruling elite that are apparent in his energy investments and his purchase of a bank seized by the government. His close ties with a former prime minister of Kazakhstan brought him into the orbit of Hunter Biden, the American president’s son whose business dealings became the focus of an impeachment inquiry by Republicans. But Rakishev’s next big investment is much closer to home.
The world’s transition to renewable energy, including electric cars, requires huge amounts of nickel, copper, lithium and other critical minerals. Kazakhstan has many of them, and China, the biggest producer of EVs and batteries, is right next door and eager to buy. “Everything is going to China,” Rakishev said.
A former Soviet Republic, Kazakhstan borders Russia to the north and China to the east and retains close trade ties to Russia. But China is a much larger customer for Kazakhstan’s critical minerals, using them to feed the insatiable needs of its factories churning out electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels – Kazakhstan said it was also courting buyers from the West and that it did not play favourites when it came to investors in mining.
“If somebody is doing geological exploration, I don’t care what flag they carry,” said Kanat Sharlapayev, Kazakhstan’s minister of industry and construction and a former Citigroup executive in Kazakhstan and the Middle East.
Rakishev’s company, Kaznickel, is producing nickel and cobalt in the Abay region of eastern Kazakhstan. The project resembles a modest farming outpost, nothing like the open-pit sites used to extract nickel in countries such as Indonesia. In fields blanketed with fresh snow, boreholes stick out of the ground every few feet. Kaznickel injects a chemical solution into the ground through the openings. The nickel dissolves in the solution, which is then pumped to the surface and processed in a metal storehouse next to the site. The Kaznickel project was started five years ago as a pilot. Mining requires a lot of patience and foresight – a lesson that, Rakishev said, other countries would be wise to heed.
The West, he said, is lagging behind when it comes to critical minerals. China started to secure supplies of lithium, cobalt and graphite decades ago. “You need to have patience like China,” he said. “They think strategically.” nyt
Beijing has invested billions of dollars, much of it as part of its Belt and Road foreign policy initiative, into upgrading Kazakhstan’s railways and other infrastructure to establish easier trade routes to Europe, an essential trading partner of China.
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