Critical minerals underpin the infrastructure of the green and digital transitions and play an increasingly important role in sectors ranging from defence and aerospace to healthcare and advanced manufacturing. Depending on the scenario, global demand for many critical minerals is projected to be roughly 2-4 times today’s levels by 2030 and around 4-6 times higher by 2040-2050. The formation of reliable, diversified supply chains has thus emerged as a strategic imperative for industrialised and emerging economies alike. The OECD works with its Member countries’ to secure and diversify critical mineral supply chains and reduce strategic dependencies, while working with non-Members to support the creation of localised value addition and enhance development outcomes in producer countries.
Central Asia’s substantial yet untapped resource base, combined with its location between major markets in Europe and Asia, raises the region’s relevance in critical mineral geopolitics and efforts to diversify global supply chains. Kazakhstan, already the world’s largest producer of uranium, produces and processes around twenty of the 34 critical minerals included on the European Union’s official list and holds substantial reserves of base metals such as chromium, zinc and lead, several of which are associated with, or co‑produced alongside, critical raw materials such as zinc, indium and germanium. The Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan both host some of the world’s largest antimony reserves. Uzbekistan possesses the eleventh-largest copper reserves globally and is advancing lithium and molybdenum production. Turkmenistan’s non-hydrocarbon mining remains underdeveloped, though untapped potential exists in lithium, copper and iron ore. Central Asia's established production of base metals offers significant potential to recover valuable minerals such as germanium, indium, gallium and rare earth elements as co- or by-products from existing polymetallic deposits. Legacy waste deposits and tailings in particular represent untapped secondary sources of critical minerals that can also enhance the circularity of the mining sector.
Central Asian governments are seeking to position themselves as reliable partners in critical mineral supply chains. On-going reforms to attract investment reflect growing recognition of the strategic importance of critical minerals. Governments are advancing the adoption of ESG standards such as economy-wide strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the establishment of legal frameworks for environmental assessments, and international standards to strengthen due diligence, labour safety and community engagement.
The development of the critical minerals sector also entails important challenges. Mining in the region is still dominated by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) with overlapping regulatory and commercial roles, while weak oversight of occupational health and safety and inconsistently applied community consultations undermine social outcomes. Environmental policies and GHG strategies are often not tailored to mining, with limited sector‑specific targets, uneven enforcement and significant legacy waste and tailings risks. On the fiscal side, critical mineral activities are exposed to Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) risks, uncommercial intra-group financing and offshore indirect transfers of mining licences.
Realising the region’s critical mineral potential will require scaling up and channelling public and private investment into projects that meet international requirements on sustainable practices. It will also depend on strengthening the policy and governance frameworks that shape the mining sector development, including responsible business conduct (RBC), environmental risk management and fiscal frameworks designed to mobilise fair public revenues from mineral extraction.