JSC "SP ZARECHNOYE" was established to develop the Zarechnoye uranium deposit, located in the Otyrar District of the Turkestan Region.
The Contract No. 996 for the Exploration and Mining of uranium at the Zarechnoye deposit in the South Kazakhstan Region of the Republic of Kazakhstan was signed on September 23, 2002 (hereinafter — the Contract).
The period of geological exploration work at the deposit was completed in June 2004 with the defense of the report and the reserve calculation at the State Reserves Commission (SRC) [or State Commission on Mineral Reserves (SCMR)] (Protocol No. 319-04-K-U dated 23.06.2004).
JSC "SP ZARECHNOYE" commenced the mining period after receiving the Mining Allotment (Letter No. 16-09-3/722 of 27.06.2005).
The preparation of reserves for development by drilling production wells began on March 1, 2006.
The ZARECHNOYE In-Situ Recovery (ISR) Mine [or In-Situ Leach (ISL) Mine] was commissioned by the State Acceptance Commission on April 23, 2007.
Uranium production in productive solutions and the output of finished products in the form of "yellowcake" commenced in May 2007.
Production Method:
a) In-Situ Leach (ISL) [or In-Situ Recovery (ISR)] of uranium with acid-sulfate solutions [or sulfuric acid solutions] using a solution pump-out system for productive solutions (PS) and their subsequent transportation;
b) Subsequent extraction of uranium-sulfate and nitrate ions complexes from the PS using strongly basic anion exchange resins followed by desorption of uranium-sulfate ions with nitrate solutions.
с) Precipitation of uranium from commercial desorbates with caustic soda (NaOH), followed by filtration of the resulting slurry and the output of the finished product in the form of sodium diuranate — "yellowcake". Control and management of production processes at the productive solution processing site are carried out through a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Automated Process Control System (APCS).
The design capacity of the Zarechnoye ISL Mine is 1,000 tons of uranium per year. From 2007 to 2024, uranium production varied between 114 and 942 tons per year, with an average production of 776–830 tons per year during the main periods (maximum annual production in 2012 was 942 tons).
In 2017, JSC "SP ZARECHNOYE" increased the area of the Mining Allotment by 50% and developed an Addendum to the Reserve Reassessment and Additional Exploration Project for the Zarechnoye deposit within the expanded Mining Allotment with an area of 56.7 km².
Since 2022, geological blocks within the new expanded Mining Allotment have been commissioned.
In October 2024, the term of Contract No. 996 was extended, and accordingly, the uranium mining period at the Zarechnoye deposit was extended until the end of 2028.