Limestone mine and grade-1 lime plant — USD 20 million investment — Akmola Region

The project

The project has two parts: acquiring a limestone deposit together with the plant site, and building a new lime production line. Products are grade-1 construction quicklime to GOST 9179-77 (lumpy and ground) and hydrated lime (calcium hydroxide) packed in 50 kg bags for retail.

The technology is a single horizontal rotary kiln rated at 600 tonnes a day, i.e. 200,000 tonnes of finished product a year. The line is a closed cycle from extraction through crushing, calcination, slaking and packing, with a compressor station and belt and bucket conveying. The whole line is operated from a central control room.

There are two separate land plots: one for the limestone quarry and one for the lime plant. The party states that the current quarry covers 4.3 hectares with confirmed limestone reserves of about 1.96 million tonnes, and that it plans to acquire roughly 83 more hectares for the quarry and carry out further geological exploration to establish additional reserves. The party has not said whether the cost of the additional land and exploration is included in the USD 20 million.

Site and utilities

The project has no railway siding or spur of its own. An existing railway line with Aisary station runs about 5 km from both the limestone deposit and the planned lime plant. The initiators intend to negotiate an agreement with the relevant railway operator so that finished lime can be loaded and shipped through Aisary station; no such agreement is in place yet.

Electricity infrastructure is in place at a purchase price of 14 tenge per kWh, and the party states that a valid subsoil use contract exists. Fuel is costed on Shubarkol Premium coal delivered at 22,000 tenge a tonne; the party says LPG or petroleum coke can be used instead with limited effect on quality.

Investment breakdown (party's figures)

Purchase of the limestone mine and plant land: USD 2.00 million. New production line from China including all customs duties and taxes: USD 11.22 million. Transport of equipment from China to Kazakhstan: USD 0.40 million. Metal structures from local suppliers: USD 1.20 million. Design and engineering: USD 0.33 million. Installation: USD 0.50 million. Buildings and structures: USD 3.20 million. Working capital including stage-0 salaries: USD 1.15 million. Total USD 20.00 million.

The party also gives a schedule: the mine is acquired in month 1; equipment manufacturing and shipping is paid in two 50% instalments; construction spending runs over eight months from month 1; installation falls in the first three months. Office and management costs are put at about USD 27,400 a month, roughly USD 400,000 a year.

Market context

On Kazakhstan customs data compiled by this site, lime imports (HS 2522) were USD 17.95 million in 2023, USD 19.23 million in 2024 and USD 20.17 million in 2025, rising year on year; monthly imports between January 2025 and April 2026 ranged from USD 1.05 million to USD 2.29 million. Kazakhstan has long imported quicklime from Uzbekistan and Russia, which is the import-substitution case the party makes.

From the party's materials: Kazakhstan consumes more than a million tonnes of lime a year, while only about 20% of domestic output is first grade, so metallurgical plants often have to use second-grade material. The first-grade users it lists include Kazakhmys, Kazzinc, ArcelorMittal Temirtau, Kazkhimtekhsnab, the Alina group, Kazchrome, KazMinerals, the Titanium-Magnesium Combine and Aluminium of Kazakhstan. These are the party's statements and have not been checked item by item.

The party also names a competitor under construction: Saryopan Operating plans a 300,000 tonne-a-year grade-1 lime plant in Karaganda region with the Belgian Carmeuse group as technical partner, at 40 billion tenge. The party's comparison is that the competitor's capacity is 50% higher while its investment is about four times this project's.

Chart data come from our trade_lab database (sources given under each chart), independent of the party's materials.

Financial model (the party's own)

The model takes USD 100 a tonne ex-VAT (54,500 tenge) for grade-1 quicklime, which is 90% of output. Year 1 is construction; sales start in year 2 at USD 19.6 million and full capacity is reached in year 3. Over ten years the model shows USD 238.0 million of sales and USD 103.5 million of net profit.

Efficiency on the base case: NPV USD 68.17 million, IRR 47.2%, payback 3.6 years and discounted payback 3.7 years. The party's ±10% sensitivity gives NPV between USD 36.76 million and USD 99.58 million, IRR between 32.1% and 59.7%, and payback between 4.5 and 3.2 years. All of this is output from the party's model and has not been re-run by this site or by any third party.

Transaction structure

The structure the party proposes: the investor commits USD 20 million, placed on bank deposit in two tranches of USD 10 million in months 1 and 6; a loan secured by that deposit funds construction; once the plant is built it replaces the deposit as collateral, the principal returns to the investor after about a year, and the investor keeps 50% of the plant. Shareholding would be 50% investor and 25% to each of the two initiators.

The party offers an alternative: if the investor funds the entire project directly and does not pledge the plant to a bank, the initiators are prepared to give 60%. This financing arrangement turns on bank credit terms and on substituting the collateral; this site has not verified that it is workable, and an interested party should have its own lawyers and bankers check it.

Who this suits

This suits Chinese building-materials, metallurgical and mining companies, particularly suppliers of rotary kilns, crushing and packing lines who want an equity route into the Central Asian market, and investors able to run their own due diligence on the licence, the reserves and environmental compliance.

Key facts

Products and standard

Grade-1 construction quicklime (lumpy and ground) and hydrated lime in 50 kg bags; GOST 9179-77

Design capacity

200,000 t/year of finished product (rotary kiln 600 t/day)

Timeline

12–18 months from the decision, including design, approvals and equipment manufacturing

Rail access

No own siding; existing line and Aisary station about 5 km from the deposit and plant site; shipment via the station planned under an agreement with the railway operator

Utilities (self-reported)

Power connected at 14 tenge/kWh; a valid subsoil use contract is stated to exist

Location

Akmola Region, Birzhan Sal District, near the village of Zaozerny

Land (self-reported)

Two plots: the quarry (4.3 ha now, about 83 ha more planned) and the plant site (area not given)

Reserves (self-reported)

About 1.96 Mt of confirmed limestone in the current quarry; further exploration planned after expansion

Received

One business-plan presentation covering the investment breakdown, financial model and market analysis, three photographs, and a follow-up letter giving the location, land plots, reserves and company name

Not yet received

The subsoil use contract, reserve report and approvals, land and site title documents, company registration papers, the financial model file itself, and the deposit's coordinates

Said to be available

“Available” does not mean we have received it. What we have on file is shown in the information status above.

Submitted by

Submitted by a co-initiator of the project, AL Production Company LLP (its relationship to the licence holder and landowner is not verified)