Yerkin Tatishev’s Kusto Group and DST explore a prospective joint venture to develop opportunities in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan

Daniel Kunin, a Managing Director of Kusto Group, announced the company had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Dundee Sustainable Technologies establishing a foundation for a possible joint venture between the two companies.

Singapore-based industrial holding company Kusto Group has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Canadian firm Dundee Sustainable Technologies (DST) to further identify, select and develop projects in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. According to Yerkin Tatishev, the Chairman of Kusto Group’s Board of Directors, “The goal of the agreement between the two companies is to create a joint venture applying DST’s technologies to Kusto’s current and future operations in the region.”

Kusto Group and DST to identify potential opportunities in Central Asia

The memorandum lays the foundation for a joint venture between the two companies. More specifically, DST and Kusto have agreed to jointly identify and select projects in the region that could benefit from the application of DST Glasslock and CLEVER Process.

Daniel Kunin, a Managing Director at Kusto Group, explained, “We are excited to begin a partnership with Dundee Sustainable Technologies. DST has created a world-class suite of technologies that bring great value to the mining sector and the environment. We look forward to working closely with the excellent team from DST.”

Kusto Group’s subsidiaries operate around the globe in multiple sectors including agriculture, mining, oil and gas, construction and construction materials, and real estate and property development. Kusto currently has an annual turnover in excess of $1 billion and provides employment for over 8,000 employees worldwide.

Dundee Sustainable Technologies develops and produces environmentally friendly technologies used to treat materials in the mining industry. Their patented and proprietary processes allow mining operations to extract precious and base metals from mineralized material while stabilizing contaminants such as arsenic. DST’s extraction and stabilization technologies are superior to conventional mining processes which pose the risk of metallurgical issues or environmental consequences.

Kusto Group and DST hope that the introduction of these innovative mining technologies will allow the companies to capitalize on untapped mining potential in the central Asian region of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

According to Mr. Brian Howlett, President and CEO of DST, “Management of DST completed a ten-day visit to Kazakhstan earlier this year and met with numerous potential customers in conjunction with Kusto. DST is pleased to partner with Kusto, a well-respected multi-disciplinary company in the region. Kazakhstan is an incredible market for DST’s Technologies with numerous mining projects operating and also under development.”

DST’s patented mining technologies

There has been growing scrutiny over the environmental impact of mining practices. Under increasing pressure, several countries and jurisdictions have banned or restricted traditional extraction methods that pose environmental challenges. The application of technology to modern mining processes has greatly reduced the environmental liabilities of the industry.

A traditional technique in gold mining uses cyanide, a chemical compound that is particularly harmful to the environment, to extract the precious metal. DST’s patented CLEVR Process uses no cyanide and produces no toxic liquid or gaseous waste, and the solid residues are inert, stable and non-acid generating.

In addition to its CLEVR Process, DST has developed a novel GlassLock Process which is used to sequester and stabilize arsenic often associated with copper, gold, silver or polymetallic deposits. Through the GlassLock Process, highly volatile arsenic is incorporated into a highly stable and insoluble glass form that meets or exceeds the requirements of the United States Environmental Agency’s (EPA) regulations.

With the Memorandum of Understanding between Kusto Group and DST, both companies have committed to evaluating potential opportunities by completing laboratory test work on material from prospective projects in order to generate technical-economic reports. Based on these reports, the companies will examine the processing and operating conditions, cost evaluation and economic data to determine whether to apply DST’s technologies to mining projects in the region.

Kusto Group: Building partnerships to revolutionize markets

Before forming Kusto Group, Yerkin Tatishev and a group of like-minded entrepreneurs successfully rehabilitated the mining region of Zhitigara in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. After organizing a management buyout of a neglected mining operation, Tatishev and his team upgraded technology and restructured the company’s management allowing it to gain access to previously closed markets. These young Kazakh business partners used this model to launch Kusto Group. The organization has repeatedly capitalized on what it has learned to replicate this success in other emerging markets.

The cooperation between DST and Kusto Group is another example of how Kusto has built its thriving business by partnering with leading firms to introduce technologies and practices to emerging markets across the world. This strategy of leveraging technologies and best practices that are well-established elsewhere but not yet visible in the target market has not only brought success to Kusto Group but also brought added value to stakeholders and consumers.

For example, Kusto Group has taken an active role in the modernization of the agricultural industry in Kazakhstan and Ukraine. The company recently signed an agreement with Valmont Industries – the largest producer of irrigation equipment in the United States – to build modern irrigation systems in Kazakhstan. The joint venture, backed by a $50 million investment, has the potential to drastically improve agricultural yields in a country where only 7% of arable land is currently irrigated. Remarkably, this irrigated land accounts for nearly 40% of Kazakhstan’s current agricultural output.

“Kusto Group embarks on strategic ventures with world-class partners who link quality with value and offer the best technology,” said Daniel Kunin, who has managed several the company’s business partnerships. “This enables us to maximize efficiency in our operations and deliver the highest quality products to our customers.”

Kusto Group has prioritized the use of innovative, advanced and highly precise technology across all of the company’s sectors – partnering with leading US firms to bring the latest in breeding and feed production to their agricultural operations, adopting technologies that embrace green approaches such as wind power to their feedlots, and  applying data-driven methods and modern technologies to increase agricultural yields.

“Kusto has always looked to move forward by embracing innovation and new technology,” said Yerkin Tatishev. “But I also believe it’s equally important to seize opportunities for collaboration whenever they arise. When business leaders share the same goals and actions, great things can happen.”