HMS Bergbau to invest $700 mln in lithium mining in Kazakhstan - minister

ASTANA. July 4 (Interfax) - Germany's HMS Bergbau AG will invest $700 million in a lithium mining project in the East Kazakhstan region, Kazakh Industry and Infrastructure Development Minister Marat Karabayev said.

"Bergbau is listed in Europe. They bought a 51% stake in a Kazakhstan-based company. Investment is expected to amount to $700 million in East Kazakhstan. German geologists are already working there," Karabayev said on the sidelines of a Kazakhstan-EU business partnership forum on Tuesday.

The project for lithium production, however it may also extend to manufacturing lithium-ion batteries depending on the reserves in the deposits, he said.

This will be the first German company to mine rare metals in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan's Creada Corporation LLP and Germany's HMS Bergbau AG signed an agreement on investment in a project for the exploration, mining and processing of rare-metal ores in East Kazakhstan during the Kazakh-German Business Forum on June 20. The expected cost of the project is $200 million.