Ferro-Alloy Resources’ Balasausqandiq Project in southern Kazakhstan is attracting attention as Europe looks for secure and sustainable sources of critical raw materials. A field visit to the project on 13 June 2026 brought together representatives from the European Union, Kazakhstan, industry and companies already active in the country.
The project is focused on vanadium, a material with growing importance in the energy transition. Vanadium is used in Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries, which support long-duration energy storage, grid stability and safe operation over extended lifecycles. As renewable power grows across Europe, storage capacity will become increasingly important.
Balasausqandiq is particularly relevant because of the nature of its orebody and processing route. The project has a sedimentary orebody and is described as capable of being processed without energy-intensive pre-concentration and roasting. This could reduce emissions, operating costs and environmental impact compared with more conventional vanadium processing routes.
The visit also included Swedish companies active in Kazakhstan, including ABB, Epiroc, ESAB and FläktGroup, represented locally by Eurotherm.kz. Their involvement reflects the level of interest from established industrial suppliers in Kazakhstan’s mining modernisation, energy transition and infrastructure plans. Their presence also shows that the opportunity around Balasausqandiq is not limited to the resource itself. It sits within a wider industrial setting where technology, equipment and infrastructure capability will be important.
Kazakhstan is becoming more relevant to Europe’s critical raw materials strategy. Europe needs more diversified sources of strategic materials, and Kazakhstan has the mining base and industrial ambitions to play a larger role. Projects such as Balasausqandiq could help strengthen that relationship by supporting supply security while creating opportunities for industrial cooperation.
The discussions with Ferro-Alloy Resources, local stakeholders and participating companies highlighted the practical importance of these partnerships. Critical raw materials projects need more than geological potential. They need processing capability, infrastructure, technical partners and access to end markets. Balasausqandiq brings several of those themes together through its vanadium focus, location and proposed processing advantages.
Ferro-Alloy Resources Ltd (LON:FAR) is developing the giant Balasausqandiq vanadium deposit in Kyzylordinskaya oblast of southern Kazakhstan. The ore at this deposit is unlike that of nearly all other primary vanadium deposits and is capable of being treated by a much lower cost process.
