Shubarkol Zapadny Coal Mine

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Shubarkol Zapadny Coal Mine (Шубарколь Западный разрез) is an operating coal mine in Shubarkol, Nura district, Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Mine Name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Shubarkol Zapadny Coal Mine	Shubarkol, Nura district, Karaganda, Kazakhstan	49.0106414618137, 68.535359479689 (exact)

The map below shows the exact location of the coal mine:

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Project Details

Table 2: Project status

Status	Status Detail	Opening Year	Closing Year
Operating	–	1999	–

Table 3: Operation details

Note: The asterisk (*) signifies that the value is a GEM estimated figure.

Capacity (Mtpa)	Production (Mtpa)	Year of Production	Mine Type	Mining Method	Mine Size (km2)	Mine Depth (m)	Workforce Size
–	6.2	2021	Surface	Open Pit	–	50*	1739*

Table 4: Coal resources and destination

Total Reserves (Mt)	Year of Total Reserves Recorded	Total Resources (Mt)	Coalfield	Coal Type	Coal Grade	Primary Consumer/ Destination
195	–	446	Karaganda	Subbituminous	Thermal	–

Table 5: Ownership and parent company

Owner	Parent Company	Headquarters
Shubarkol Komir JSC	Shubarkol Komir JSC [100%]	Kazakhstan

Table 6: Historical production (unit: million tonnes per annum)

Note: The asterisk (*) indicates that the value is an estimated figure based on various factors, including the company's forecasted or reported monthly or quarterly production data, etc.

ROM or Saleable	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Saleable	5*	5*	5	5	6	6	5*

Expansion/Extension

Table 6: Project status

* Added capacity of a coal mine refers to the enhancement in the mine's production capabilities beyond its initial production capacity.

Status	Status Detail	Project Type	Project Phase	Added Capacity (Mtpa)*	Start Year
Proposed	Announced	Expansion	–	3	–

Note: The above section was automatically generated and is based on data from the Global Coal Mine Tracker April 2024 release and the September supplement.

Background

Shubarkol Zapadny Coal Mine (разрез Шубарколь Западный) is a surface mine near Karaganda, Kazakhstan.

Its sister mine Shubarkol Centralny coal mine is located nearby. Shubarkol Zapadny coal mine is operated by Shubarkol Komir JSC, which is owned 50% by Eurasian Energy Corporation and 50% by SHK EURASIAN HOLDING B.V., which are both ultimately owned by Eurasian Resources Group S.à r.l According to the company's website, Eurasian Resources Group S.à r.l., a limited liability company governed by the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is owned by two founder shareholders, Dr Alexander Machkevitch and Dr Patokh Chodiev, and the heirs of the third founder, Mr Alijan Ibragimov, each own an approximately 20% of the company’s shares. The State Property and Privatisation Committee of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan owns the remaining 40%. Such representation of the Kazakhstan government ensures its continued support to the Group.

Shubarkol Komir is listed on the Kazakh Stock Exchange.

Production at the Zapadny mine commenced in 1999. The mining license for Zapadny runs until 2044.

Shubarkol Komir Mines

Shubarkol Komir also owns and operates the Shubarkol Centralny coal mine located nearby, although the mines are physically separated. Information is very often presented jointly for the two mines.

Joint production of the Shubarkol Komir mines reached 12.8 million tonnes in 2021 and 12.5 million tonnes in 2022, increasing from 11.6 million tonnes in 2018.

As of 2018, the company was selling coal to more than 30 counterparties, including 13% of coal sales sold to the internal Eurasian Resources Group companies, 34% in Europe to traders (primarily to TELF AG), 30% in Kazakhstan and 15% in Russia. Less than 9% was sold in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. In 2022, the company reported that 49% of production was exported, 16% was delivered to industrial companies in Kazakhstan and 35% to the thermal power plants. The geography of coal exports covers, for example, Switzerland and Great Britain. Shubarkol coal is characterised by high calorific value and low ash content.

Technical advisor SRK Consulting prepared a detailed report on the two mines in 2018.

Expansion Plans

In its 2021 and 2022 annual reports, Shubarkol Komir stated the plan to increase joint production of the two mines to 20 million tonnes per annum, subject to additional sales channels as well as the development of internal and external railway infrastructure. It is not clear which mine would contribute to the expansion, although the reports also mention the plan to relocate a portion of production from Centralny to Zapadny mine and to grow production at Zapadny.

A media source from November 2021 also mentioned the expansion plan to 14.8 million tonnes by 2026 (joint for the two mines). Expansion of production is required to provide coal for the planned special coke plant with capacity of 0.4 million tonnes, which will consume 0.8 million tonnes of coal. The company stated that the project to build the plant has started in autumn 2021. It is planned for completion in the third quarter of 2023.

In the absence of additional information on the expansion (as of January 2023 and October 2023), it was assumed that the expansion comes in equal parts from the two mines.

• Owner: Shubarkol Komir JSC
• Parent: Eurasian Resources Group S.à r.l
• Location: Nura district, Karaganda region, Kazakhstan
• GPS Coordinates: 49.010641461813705, 68.53535947968909 (exact)
• Status: Operating
• Production: 6.2 million tonnes (2021)
• Total Resource: 446 Mt (2021)
• Total Reserves: 195 Mt (2021)
• Coal Type: Subbituminous (Thermal)
• Mine Size:
• Mine Type: Surface
• Start Year: 1999
• Source of Financing:
• Number of employees: 2800 (joint for Shubarkol mines)

Project Expansion Details

• Status: Proposed
• Capacity: 3.6 Mt (to reach joint production of 20 Mt)
• Mineable Reserves:
• Start Year: unknown
• Source of Financing:

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including an interactive map of world coal mines, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Mine Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.