The world that surrounds us, the benefits of modern life we enjoy, increasingly depends on rare earth, rare, non-ferrous and precious metals. At the same time, the extraction is often carried out using outdated methods which are barbaric, energy-consuming and dangerous, says Kenes Rakishev. The experience of Kenes Rakishev himself in the development of mining enterprises is enormous: his companies extract nickel, lithium, gold and associated metals.
Large deposits of cobalt are located in the DRC, the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is not the most stable place on the planet. In addition to political instability, there should be be ethical issues to consider, notes Kenes Rakishev.
Workers in the cobalt mines in DRC do not live long and happy life. The working conditions there are terrible and the safety is non-existent. Rare earth metals are mined in Inner Mongolia – and China has a practical monopoly on them. There are a lot of lithium ore deposits, but the production of metal is economically justified only at some of them. Kenes Rakishev decided to create an enterprise specifically for the extraction of metals used in batteries. Nickel, cobalt, lithium and associated metals – these are the goals of Kenes Rakishev and his new enterprise Battery Metals.
Kenes Rakishev wrote an extensive article for the Mining Magazine about the specifics of nickel mining development and the role of nickel as a ‘green metal’. Rakishev’s company has developed and is improving a method for extracting this valuable metal by leaching. Leaching minimizes environmental impact. The technologies that Kenes Rakishev offers do not lead to:
- landscape destruction by quarries
- occupational hazard of workers in the form of dust and noise
- high water consumption
- large oil and gas consumption and CO₂ emission
Leaching has been tested on many ores. Nickel leaching has also proven to be successful. The proximity of the deposit to processing and enrichment centres, on the one hand, and on the other hand, to the “world factory” in China, makes the Battery Metals project extremely promising. Decentralization of the extraction of “battery” metals is part of the system for increasing the stability of the world economy, says Kenes Rakishev.
Kenes Rakishev is a businessman whose main assets are concentrated around metal mining, financial technology and modern, experimental industries such as blockchain, the creation of ultra-fast charging for batteries. Kenes Rakishev ranks sixth in the list of the most influential businessmen in his country.