Kazakhstan Is Drilling Again. CED Wants to Be Part of What Comes Next.
Kazakhstan is enormous.
That is both the opportunity and the problem.
Beneath one of the largest countries on Earth sits a serious mineral endowment spanning copper, gold, uranium, zinc, lead, chromium and other critical and strategic minerals.
But having minerals underground and turning them into drill-defined resources are two very different things.
Somebody still has to drill the holes.
And that is exactly why Kazakhstan is on the radar for Cylinder Exploration Drilling (CED).
This is the first article in our new CED Global Expansion series — a Friday look at the countries where we believe CED's equipment, people and complete exploration packages can bring something useful to the table.
We're starting in Central Asia.
And we're starting big.
Kazakhstan's exploration story is getting interesting
There is a reason CED is looking seriously at Kazakhstan.
The Astana International Financial Centre said in April 2026 that approximately 65% of Kazakhstan's territory remains geologically underexplored, while around 3,000 exploration licences had already been issued.
It launched a Junior Mining Platform specifically intended to help attract investment into early-stage geological exploration. Astana International Financial Centre Meanwhile, Kazakhstan continues reforming how companies gain access to its mineral sector. Its government has been digitising subsoil-use processes, introducing electronic auctions and making changes designed to reduce barriers to exploration investment.
This isn't simply a country with mines.
It is a country with an enormous amount of ground still demanding modern exploration.
And drilling sits right in the middle of that equation.
Copper is giving explorers plenty to chase
Kazakhstan already has major copper operations, but the exploration story extends well beyond existing mines.
There is real drilling happening right now.
In 2026, Central Asia Metals reported completing maiden drilling programmes at two Kazakhstan exploration projects, totalling approximately 4,300 metres.
Elsewhere, MINEX Kazakhstan reported that a joint venture between Ivanhoe Mines and Pallas Resources had launched a 15,000-metre diamond drilling campaign across a large licence position in the Chu-Sarysu Basin.
And exploration isn't restricted to one commodity or one geological belt.
That's important for CED.
Because we're not entering Kazakhstan with one machine and one answer.
CED doesn't want to ship a rig to Kazakhstan. We want to build drilling packages.
There is a big difference.
An exploration company doesn't make money because a shiny new drill rig arrives in a container.
It needs to drill.
That means the rig is only one part of the equation.
CED can build packages around the actual exploration programme: diamond core rigs, RC rigs, Air Core equipment, compressors, mud pumps, drill rods, core barrels, drilling consumables, spare parts, support equipment, commissioning, training and experienced drilling personnel.
Need a compact exploration rig?
We can work with that.
Need deeper diamond capability?
We can work with that.
Need RC plus compressor, tooling and support equipment?
Good. That's much closer to how we like supplying equipment anyway.
Tell us what you're trying to drill. We'll work backwards from the hole.
Diamond Drilling in Kazakhstan
Diamond drilling remains fundamental where explorers need geological structure, orientation, recovery and quality core from depth.
CED's diamond range runs from compact exploration machines through to substantially larger rigs, allowing equipment to be selected around actual programme requirements rather than simply throwing the biggest machine available at the job.
That matters in Kazakhstan.
A programme drilling relatively shallow targets across widely dispersed licences has completely different logistical requirements from a deep copper programme punching several hundred metres below surface.
Different hole. Different rig. Different package.
CED can configure accordingly.
RC Drilling in Kazakhstan
Where programmes demand rapid penetration and efficient collection of rock chips, reverse circulation drilling becomes another important option.
CED supplies dedicated RC rigs alongside the compressors, drill strings, tooling, spares and supporting equipment required to turn the rig into an operational package.
For companies mobilising into remote exploration areas, that package mentality matters.
Buying the rig and discovering later that half the supporting equipment was forgotten is an expensive way to learn about procurement.
We'd rather have that conversation before anything leaves the factory.
Air Core and shallow exploration
Not every target needs a 1,000-metre diamond hole.
Early-stage exploration can involve large numbers of relatively shallow holes designed to understand geology beneath cover, identify anomalies and progressively sharpen targets before committing to deeper drilling.
This is where compact Air Core and shallow exploration platforms can become particularly interesting.
CED's developing SFM Series takes that philosophy further: highly mobile exploration platforms built around modularity, rapid deployment and getting exploration equipment into places where conventional truck-mounted systems can become cumbersome.
For vast exploration territories, mobility isn't a marketing feature.
It's an operating cost.
Kazakhstan is exactly the sort of market where support matters
Kazakhstan's sheer size creates another issue.
Distance.
Exploration equipment can end up a long way from the nearest workshop, supplier or convenient source of replacement components.
A $5 component can stop a very expensive drilling operation if nobody thought to put one in the spares package.
That's why CED puts so much emphasis on critical spares, preventative-maintenance parts and consumables planning when building international packages.
We manufacture and supply drilling equipment from our international network and can structure shipments around the client's operating requirements.
The objective is not:
Rig delivered. Invoice paid. Goodbye.
The objective is:
Rig delivered. Rig commissioned. Crew trained. Spares on hand. Consumables available. Start drilling.
That is a much more useful definition of equipment supply.
And sometimes the client doesn't want to operate the rig at all
That's another conversation CED wants to have in Kazakhstan and across Central Asia.
We aren't limited to selling equipment.
CED can also provide experienced drilling personnel, supervisors, technical support and operational drilling services, depending on the project and location.
That creates several possible models.
A client can purchase equipment and operate it independently.
CED can supply the equipment and help train the client's team.
CED personnel can support mobilisation and commissioning.
Or we can discuss a broader operational drilling package.
Different projects need different answers.
We're deliberately building CED that way.
Why Kazakhstan? Why now?
Because exploration is happening.
Because large areas remain underexplored.
Because new capital is looking at the country.
Because companies are drilling.
And because a growing exploration market eventually needs a lot more than geology.
It needs rigs.
It needs compressors.
It needs rods.
It needs bits.
It needs muds.
It needs spares.
It needs people who understand what happens when the beautiful drilling programme in the PowerPoint finally meets the ground.
That's where CED belongs.
CED's Central Asian expansion starts with a conversation
We're interested in speaking with exploration companies, mining companies, drilling contractors, geological consultancies, equipment distributors and potential regional partners across Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
If you're planning a programme, don't start by asking us:
"How much is the rig?"
Give us the useful information.
What commodity are you chasing?
What drilling method?
What depths?
What hole diameter?
How many metres?
What ground conditions are expected?
How remote is the programme?
What equipment do you already have?
Then CED can start building the package around the job.
Because ultimately, Kazakhstan doesn't need more drilling rigs sitting in yards.
It needs equipment putting metres in the ground.
Cylinder Exploration Drilling — built for exploration, wherever the next target happens to be.
Discussion
For exploration teams currently operating in Kazakhstan and Central Asia: what is the biggest equipment or logistical headache you face getting exploration metres into the ground?
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