Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), the global metals and mining company, with its origins and many of its major operations in Kazakhstan, has invested over US$44 million in an innovative chrome ore beneficiation project at Donskoy Mining and Processing Plant, part of ERG’s Kazchrome.
The new flotation unit at the ERG Green plant extracts chrome from tailings. The facility converts decades-old industrial waste into valuable raw material while reducing environmental impact.
ERG says the project represents the world’s first direct flotation of chrome from tailings, adding: “Such technology is typically used for non-ferrous and precious metals, but for the chrome industry it is unprecedented. It was developed and patented by ERG’s Scientific and Engineering Research Center, making it possible to recover chrome from ultrafine particles that were previously unsuitable for beneficiation.”
ERG annually allocates about one percent of all contract-related investments to scientific research. The flotation unit marks a practical application of ERG’s new mining vision launched under CEO and Chairman of the Board Shukhrat Ibragimov since his appointment in October 2024.
That vision focuses on cleaner and ESG-aligned industrial practices. The new project strengthens ERG’s ability to turn waste into value.
“I have been following the development of this innovation for the industry from the very beginning and I am very glad today to witness a real scientific and technical breakthrough, made possible thanks to the talent and professionalism of the people working in our company, thanks to the innovative corporate culture we have created,” said ERG’s Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Shukhrat Ibragimov.
In 2023, ERG launched the first stage of the ERG Green program at Donskoy with a unique plant that processes tailings through gravity methods. That facility produces commercial concentrate with chrome content of at least 48.5%. Even after this process, tailings still contained valuable chrome product. The new flotation unit was designed to recover this ultrafine fraction.
Within the ERG Green program, the company targets processing of about 14.5 Mt of historically accumulated tailings. Total investment in ERG Green is around US$202 million.
