A team of scientists from the National Center on Complex Processing of Mineral Raw Materials of the Republic of Kazakhstan, along with specialists from Kostanay Minerals JSC, were awarded the Academician E. Buketov Prize

Recently, the website of the Ministry of Industry and Construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan featured information about two innovative solutions developed by our scientists, scientists from the National Center on Complex Processing of Mineral Raw Materials of the Republic of Kazakhstan. These solutions involved technologies for processing chrysotile-asbestos waste and barite ores with their beneficiation tailings. Both developments were widely discussed in the media and were nominated for and won the competition for the Academician Evney Buketov Prize, an outstanding Kazakhstani scientist in the field of chemistry and metallurgy.

The authors, including Roza Shayakhmetova, PhD, Head of the Rare Metals Laboratory of NC CPMRM RK, and the project manager; Anar Mukhametzhanova, Senior Researcher at the Rare Metals Laboratory of NC CPMRM RK; Marat Imanbayev, Lead Engineer for Enrichment in the Technical Department of Kostanay Minerals JSC, developed and implemented a comprehensive hydrometallurgical technology for processing chrysotile-asbestos waste from Kostanay Minerals JSC. The technology involves hydrochloric acid leaching of serpentine-containing raw materials to produce bischofite, carnallite, and silica-containing products. The relevance of this work is due to the lack of commercial reserves of carnallite in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the need to supply domestic magnesium production with its own raw materials, and the involvement of large-tonnage asbestos production waste in the processing of asbestos.

For their work "Development of a Technology for Processing Chrysotile-Asbestos Man-Made Raw Materials to Obtain Commercial Magnesium and Silicon Compounds," the team of authors was awarded the Academician E. Buketov Prize for 2025.

A team of authors from the Kazmekhanobr State Scientific and Production Association of Industrial Ecology, a branch of NC CPMRM RK, consisting of Era Li, Head of the Mineral Resources Beneficiation and Pilot Testing Department and project manager; Eldar Beisembayev, Director; and Alina Smailova, Deputy Head of the Mineral Resources Beneficiation and Pilot Testing Department, solved the scientific and technical problem of increasing the efficiency of processing barite ores and man-made waste from their beneficiation. During the research, an innovative flotation beneficiation technology was developed, enabling the production of high-quality barite concentrates that meet modern industrial requirements.

For their work "Development of an Innovative Technology for the Flotation Beneficiation of Barite Ores to Produce High-Quality Barite Concentrates," the team was awarded the 2025 Academician E. Buketov Prize.

We congratulate the winners and wish them new scientific achievements, successful implementation of promising projects, and continued professional success!

For reference

The Academician E. A. Buketov Prize has been awarded by the Academy of Mineral Resources of the Republic of Kazakhstan since 2004 for outstanding scientific research and major engineering contributions in the fields of metallurgy, mineral processing, chemical engineering and economics, physical chemistry, and the training of scientific and engineering personnel.