Kazakhstan’s law enforcement agencies have uncovered a large-scale criminal scheme involving the illegal extraction of manganese ore worth billions of tenge in the Ulytau Region.

Prosecutors revealed that a 50-year-old resident of the Kostanay Region organized unauthorized mining operations at the Vostochny Karazhal deposit between 2020 and 2023. The suspect carried out the extraction without the required license or subsoil use contract, The Caspian Post reports via Kazakh media.

Regional prosecutors said the man also laundered criminal proceeds through cash withdrawals and fictitious transactions. Over the three-year period, more than 16,000 tons of manganese ore were shipped, causing damage to the state exceeding 1.3 billion tenge ($2.601 million). Authorities added that the sale of processed ferromanganese ore both domestically and abroad generated more than 3.5 billion tenge ($7.004 million) in illegal income.

On February 4, 2026, the Ulytau Regional Court sentenced the defendant to five years and four months in prison. The court also ordered the recovery of 4.8 billion tenge ($9.605 million) in favor of the state and confiscated three passenger vehicles and two heavy trucks purchased with criminal proceeds. The verdict has entered into legal force.

Earlier, prosecutors in the Karaganda Region reported uncovering another long-running case of illegal export of Kazakhstan’s natural resources, with damages estimated at more than 2 billion tenge ($4.002 million), highlighting ongoing efforts to combat illicit mining and resource smuggling in the country.