AMM Mining Congress 2025: Independent Assessment, International Standards and Industry Challenges

AMM Mining Congress 2025: Independent Assessment, International Standards and Industry Challenges

On June 4–5, 2025, Astana hosted the annual AMM Mining Congress, a key platform for dialogue on the future of the mining industry in Kazakhstan.

Among the guests of honor was the Chairman of the CRIRSCO Committee, Gret Garth Kirkham, who addressed the participants with an important message on the importance of international reporting standards. He especially emphasized the need for further implementation of the KAZRC in Kazakhstan as a basis for transparency and trust in the mining market.

Unfortunately, the planned meeting of the CRIRSCO Chairman with representatives of the Government of Kazakhstan did not take place.

An important moment of the congress was the speech by Georgy Georgievich Freiman, Chairman of the Executive Committee of PONEN. He presented a report on the ten-year path of implementing the KAZRC Code and the formation of PONEN as a professional institute for independent assessment.

One of the hotly debated topics was the prospect of returning the functions of approving reserves to the State Reserves Commission (SRC).  At the final foresight session, where all the moderators of the thematic sessions spoke, important opinions were voiced about the inadmissibility of rolling back to outdated approaches.

The participants unanimously spoke out against returning the function of approving reserves to the SRC, emphasizing that this would be a step backwards. Independent assessment of reserves is the cornerstone of investor confidence. Any interference by government agencies in the activities of certified specialists undermines the principles of independence and slows down the development of the junior market.

Leading industry experts voiced and supported their position, including Viktor Kovalenko, Timur Odilov, Nikolai Rodostovets, Turar Zholmagambetov and others.