Three huge quarries found near Balkhash, causing nearly half a billion tenge in environmental damage

Tengrinews.kz — The Financial Monitoring Agency’s Department for Karaganda Region has stopped the illegal extraction of iron and manganese ore near the village of Sayak, according to the agency’s press service.
According to the FMA, the case concerns the activities of Vertex Co. LLP and MiningMetall LLP. The agency said the work was carried out without the relevant subsoil use rights or required permits.

“Hired workers and specialized equipment were used to develop the sites, including excavators, loaders, a crushing unit and dump trucks. The extracted raw material was crushed and then transported to a railway station for further shipment and sale,” the agency said.

During an inspection, three quarries were discovered showing signs of large-scale overburden removal and mining operations. The total volume of excavated soil amounted to 338,000 cubic meters.
According to specialists’ estimates, restoring the damaged land and reclaiming the quarries will require 485 million tenge.
With court authorization, two pieces of specialized equipment, a vehicle and commercial premises were seized. The suspect was released on bail as a preventive measure. The investigation is ongoing.
Earlier, it became known that authorities in Zhetysu Region had stopped an attempt to illegally export 2,600 tons of gold-bearing ore worth 1.5 billion tenge from Kazakhstan. The raw material had been declared as copper ore in customs documents.